A Flawless Ground Handling company is a treasure that every single airline is eagerly trying to find, yet a lot of times face a number of challenges. Most of the time, the challenge list starts with the long and unreasonable waiting times, unprofessional and careless procedure completion, and most importantly, high costs that do not match the service provided.
Turnover speed
It is not a secret that airlines earn the most when aircraft are spending as much time in the air as possible. In order to achieve the highest return on investment, airlines are looking for the most efficient ground handling companies to service their aircraft quickly. Therefore, the leaders of the Ground Handling industry might not be the cheapest, but they definitely excel in the quality, speed, and efficiency of the service they provide. Airlines keep an eye for the cost effective Ground Handling service, however does not hesitate to pay more if Ground Handling company can ensure that service lead time does not exceed 50 minutes (current Russia and CIS region average is 60 – 90 minutes).
Check-in quality
Ground Handling companies are also very closely related to the job and prosperity of the airport they service. The more time passengers spend in the terminal rather than waiting in the line for check-in, the higher the profits of the airport is. Well-trained and organized check-in agents are the gateway to the quick and smooth airport terminal entrance. The longer passengers have to wait in line the more stressed and anxious they might get, which causes them to behave in unpredictable manner and escalate minor discrepancies to the uncontrollable level. Therefore, well trained check-in agents should not only be professionally trained to use the software to check passengers in for the flight, but also be good psychologists that are able to notice the rising problems, but be able to control them too.
FOD? What FOD?
The most important thing that airlines factor into the Ground Handling company selection equation is their number of FOD accidents, as well as the professionalism and appropriate procedure follow through for the aircraft preparation for the flight. In the past, Russia has experienced a few incidents regarding the deicing procedures, which made aircraft return or make an emergency landing. These are only a few examples of the importance of the professional staff and their knowledge and skill upkeep in order to continue to raise the safety of the aviation industry.
Put it all together
At the end of the day, passenger and cabin crew safety comes first and Ground Handling companies play an extremely important role in the preparation for that safe and pleasant trip that everyone wishes to take. But in order to be able to provide that kind of service, there is a lot of work that needs to be put in to raise the skills of the staff and the service standards which currently are the roughest edges of the service that Ground Handling companies provide.
Baltic Aviation Academy is EASA approved aviation training organization (ATO). The head office and training headquarters are located in Vilnius, Lithuania. Baltic Aviation Academy provides high quality Ab Initio, Type Rating, Operations, Ground Handling, and Cabin Crew courses. The geographical range of customers includes Europe, CIS, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
