Category: Airport

airport ground operations, aircraft, aviation, pandemic, telematics, fleet

Fly High With The Right Tools For Your Airport Ground Operations

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Fly High With The Right Tools For Your Airport Ground Operations

The airline industry has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic. Dropping travel demand, travel restrictions at the borders and travellers lack of confidence in airplane travel has put the global aviation industry into the biggest financial crisis since 9/11. Airlines are struggling, with many in danger of immediate collapse, and experts predict that it will take years for the industry to fully recover from the impacts of the pandemic. It’s not just airlines that are suffering from low travel demand and astronomical revenue loss; many support sectors in the air transportation field, such as the airport ground handling service, airline catering service, airport retails and commercials, are all experiencing the turbulence of pandemic. Job cuts and salary adjustments have already become way too familiar in these sectors in the past few months as the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out tens of thousands of jobs in the aviation field and grounded most of the airline fleets. 

 

Unprecedented Challenges And New Opportunities For Airport Ground Operations

With the positive incoming news regarding the development of vaccines and planned mass vaccination happening soon, hope is on the horizon. In fact, even though during the pandemic period we saw a sharp decline in passenger volumes across the board, cargo flights were booming in business as they formulate vital links and connections between countries. They are the critical workforce in the global logistics network, transporting and distributing time-sensitive and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment and vaccines between countries. Additionally, as the coronavirus testing technology continues to evolve, rapid testing has been widely applauded by the airlines as a scientific and effective method to restore traveller’s confidence in airplane travel along with the ease in border restrictions and quarantine rules. In the foreseeable future, with vast immunization across the world, the establishment of travel bubbles between countries, and the introduction of immunity passports, we are expecting travel demand to quickly pick up soon. 

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions and responses. Airport ground handling crews are the most pivotal group of employees working the frontlines by supporting the airport operations and aircraft movement 24/7. Most work directly for airlines or contracted ground handling companies, and their positions and tasks can range from providing customer service, ramp services and conducting aircraft maintenance. We will primarily focus on the ramp service crew and see how their work enables the airport to function smoothly throughout the pandemic. We are also going to explore how technology tools power them through the everyday workflow. 

Ramp agents are responsible for a variety of tasks, including loading and off-loading baggage and cargo, directing planes to and from their gates, de-icing airplanes, operating baggage carts and pushback tractors and many more activities. It requires a collaborative effort between multiple departments to service each aircraft. In busier airports, ramp service agents may need to service multiple aircrafts at the same time, which demands a high level of precision, accuracy and efficiency. 

Airport operations and air traffic movements follow a strict set of schedules and plans where each flight is assigned with a dedicated take-off and landing slot. Any ground operation delays for a flight could have a domino effect on other flights, resulting in a more wide-spread delay across the airport and disrupting regular traffic flow. Air traffic controllers have to reassign new departure windows to each following aircraft and adjust airport departure rates and arrival rates to bring the airport operations back to normal. The longer the airplanes are sitting at the gates, the more money airlines are losing. Airlines need airplanes to stay in the air as much as possible to turn profits. Airplanes sitting on the ground will keep burning cash as airlines need to pay crew members as well as aircraft and ownership costs. Lengthy delays could also negatively affect passenger satisfaction. During the pandemic, airlines were focusing on preserving cash flow and revamping their operations and business models to survive this challenging period. Any ground delays can further impact a business’s long-term financial status, which threatens the airlines future. Poor on-time performance can also drive away loyal customers, which is a huge loss for any airline during the pandemic and may slow down the economic recovery of the business after travel demand picks up again. 

All of this demonstrates that airport ground handling service must be done in an efficient and cost-saving manner in the post-pandemic world to support the recovery of the aviation industry. The new standards pressure the ground service contractors to use the least possible labour and adopt all cost-cutting measures but maintain the same level of service and quality. It may seem impossible to balance these conflicting factors, but modern technology has showcased proven solutions that help ground service contractors and agents to fly through operational tasks with mobile computer vision.

Introducing telematics — one of the most reliable and widely adopted assets and human resource management systems that completely transforms how ground operation managers and equipment operators navigate their day. We will go through 8 different ways of how telematics can simplify workflow, maximize productivity, drive down costs and secure operations. 

 

Stay On Top Of The Operations

When you have so many airport assets and vehicles to manage, you need to stay on top of the entire operation. With telematics, getting a full picture of the fleet and operations on any device could not be easier. Our scalable system automatically compiles all the critical information and displays it on one simple intuitive map which gives you full visibility and control of the operations.

 

Streamline Work Process From Start To Finish

Our system can be easily integrated with airport systems and IT infrastructures, where the system automatically establishes work orders, determines priorities and assigns work to equipment operators. The whole process takes into consideration multiple factors, including aircraft pushback time, arrival time, the amount of workload for ground handling agents and an estimation of how long it will take to complete the work. The system algorithms are designed to optimize and best utilize the available resources to ensure timely pushback of every flight. By giving equipment operators a clearer view of their upcoming tasks and the information of the aircraft they need to service next, they can more efficiently plan out their day and improve their productivity.

We also focused on providing a simplified workflow for fleet managers. Our innovative dashboard is the ideal place where fleet managers can find a summary of all the real-time fleet critical metrics and data. Our system can automatically notify fleet managers if a disruption happens during the ground handling operations that may result in a pushback delay for the aircraft, so that fleet managers can be alerted and take appropriate responses such as dispatching extra resources to mitigate the impacts. 

 

The Most Expansive Customization, Right In Your Hands

The airport is a very unique and special setting where rules need to be strictly enforced. We provide the most expansive list of software and hardware customization options, so you can have complete freedom to create systems, dashboards, maps or hardware packages that best serve your interests and key focuses. Geofencing is a powerful tool in our system where fleet managers can set up predefined boundaries, establish special rules and restrictions to control asset movements and provide clear instructions to asset operators. It allows fleet managers to draw zones around places of work to create a highly organized workflow that drastically improves airport operation efficiency. 

 

Safety Is A Top Priority

Safety is a top priority in any workplace. This is especially true for airport operations, where any collision and accident can be costly and catastrophic. This is a place where safety rules have to be strictly enforced, and no mistake is allowed. In responding to the stringent safety measures and standards, telematics solution providers offer a comprehensive 360-degree protection solution that could have a meaningful impact on the operations. The collision avoidance technology, driver distraction camera and all-angle vehicle camera system, form a multi-layered safety protection net that effectively reduces the possibility of collision and accidents. The driver scoring dashboard is the first-of-its-kind in the industry that adopted advanced sensing technology to assign a safety score for each equipment operator, helping to promote good driving behaviours among the fleet. 

 

Real Saving That You Can See

Throughout the pandemic, we learned that businesses are putting an increased focus on cost management. For heavily impacted sectors, such as the aviation industry, companies and airlines are searching for every opportunity to cut down on unnecessary costs and preserve important cash flow. For ground operations, fuel is one of the top expenditures and managing fuel consumption has been the number one priority for ground service contractors and airlines. However, you cannot effectively cut down on fuel consumption without first knowing all the fleet’s critical energy consumption data and metrics. Telematics is the central platform enabling fleet managers to monitor fuel consumption, set up targets for minimizing the costs and to keep an eye on the overall fleet costs. Our package includes leading sensor solutions, helping fleet managers extract vital information from vehicle parts and components. Our software utilizes advanced algorithms and machine learning models to analyze data and create tailored step-by-step solutions to assist fleet managers in driving down costs. 

 

Small Steps, Big Difference

We deeply care about the environment, and that’s why we integrate features allowing fleet managers to measure the fleet’s environmental and carbon footprint. Our vehicle’s onboard sensors can help fleet managers track drivers’ behaviours such as harsh braking, engine idling that directly affect fuel consumption and carbon footprints. The road navigation system integrated with our telematics platform always assigns equipment operators with the most efficient route to their destinations in the airport, slashing both carbon footprints and fuel spending. 

 

Your Asset, Now Secured

Fleet managers never want any unauthorized individual to operate airport equipment. Our telematics solution packs in an encrypted onboard driver authentication feature where only operators and personnel that hold the authorized ID card can access and operate the vehicles. This type of controlled access can clearly reduce unauthorized equipment usage and eliminate injuries to untrained, non-qualified crew members.  

 

Protect Your Fleet – With Proof

Accidents that happened at the airport can be devastating and extremely expensive. Think about what if one of the ground handling equipment collides and damages the airplane; who should be responsible for the damage? When it comes to determining liability and responsibility, fleet managers need to equip the vehicle with the right tool, such as dash cameras, to help them document the event and analyze who was at fault. It’s a handy add-on that can protect your business and prove your operators are not at fault during an accident, which can save your business from paying hefty compensation that you actually should not be responsible for. 

The aviation sector will prevail and bounce back eventually. Though nobody can be certain about when people will be confident to fly again,  airlines and ground handling companies are devoting all efforts to ensure they can navigate through the turbulent time and come back in a stronger position. The effects of the pandemic will be felt in aviation for several years to come, but we are ready to give a helping hand.

Our industry-leading telematics solutions provide the necessary support to help your business deliver high-quality service during the pandemic and build resilience to endure hardship. Speak with our industry-specific specialists to discuss how we can help your businesses to fly high during this unprecedented time. 

Operational Congestion at airport

Part II: The Solution To Operational Congestion – A Congestion Management Strategy

Posted on | by Anna | Leave a Comment on Part II: The Solution To Operational Congestion – A Congestion Management Strategy

In Part I, we discussed how operational congestion is very costly and a major source of problems for businesses. If it is not addressed, it will starkly impact operation managers from a financial and productivity standpoint, and result in customer dissatisfaction.

In Part II, we will discuss how highly localized environments like airports must use a solutions-based management strategy to prevent congestion and work pauses/stoppages.

 

Why Data Collection Will Allow For A Better Understanding Of Operations

In order to solve the issue of congestion in any localized environment, it is critical for factors into what is causing the congestion to be broken down. After highlighting these factors, a complete review of the assets within the localized area must happen to better understand the need and intensity of the demand. A specific spotlight must be put on the time and dates of movement and the severity of the resulting congestion. When this is completed, only then can insight to what triggers congestion can be understood and addressed with a solution.

 

Airport Resource Management – Data Collection and Airport Congestion

When dealing with airport resource management and congestion, this framework can be easily applied. The factors that cause the congestion can be analyzed – focusing on when runway traffic happens, what assets are involved, what the travelling speed of the assets are and what the posted speed of the roads are, as well as the intensity of the congestion. 

Generally, it is found that when more flights are landing or departing, more assets are required to service the aircrafts. This results in a buildup of congestion and only recedes once servicing assets are in detention.

Once this information is known and is cross analyzed with the speed of the roads, mapping can be completed to show the correlation of the average speed – what time slow downs are happening – and understand where major congestion points are.

What can operation managers do with this information? The answer is to source and implement a proper congestion management strategy. 

 

Implementing A Congestion Management Strategy

When information regarding what assets are causing congestion or when slowdowns happen, a congestion management strategy can then be implemented. By leveraging a heat map, businesses can effectively display asset types, the average speed traveled, the time of day travel, and the calendar date traveled. This new stream of information can guide a new and more effective strategy. 

A best practice to minimize the impact of congestion during high-demand traffic is to strategically divert traffic through travel routes. This will result in less congestion as there are fewer assets who require the road. Oftentimes, this means using detour routes so they will not be required to travel through the same routes. This may require certain assets to be directed to take specific detour routes – either permanently or during traffic spikes. Although it may seem counter-intuitive for assets to be taking the “longer route,” these detour routes drastically reduce congestion and ensure that assets continue moving. 

To ensure success, policies and procedures must be enforced by the airport resource management strategy so employee behaviour changes during this strategic shift. Leveraging learning systems, like ZenduLearn, can help with this change, as staff are assigned new training modules that explain the new driving routes and the new congestion-reducing regulations. 

In fact, the GPS tracking solutions can be paired with the learning system to see whether drivers are following the new regulations and alert operations managers when a route infraction occurs. 

 

Reducing Congestion In Any Industry

Congestion happens in many industries. Whether it is distribution warehouses, construction sites or airports, not being able to locate or track the movement of assets can affect the bottom line of a business. 

Contact us today to learn more about how your business can benefit from a unique congestion management strategy and the solutions we recommend to help you see results.

Operational congestion occurs in highly localized environments such as airports

Part I: More People Are Affected By Operational Congestion Than You Think

Posted on | by Anna | Leave a Comment on Part I: More People Are Affected By Operational Congestion Than You Think

The backlog of stationary assets can result in operational delays, lengthy completion of tasks and will add additional costs to projects. If we focus on the costs of congestion, one thing becomes clear – the ongoing costs are too much to bear for businesses. 

Below we discuss how congestion in business operations, where environments are highly localized, must be addressed to reduce operational losses. As well how this affects airport resource management. 

 

Where Congestion Is Not Yet Understood

When the general public thinks of congestion, they think of the travel delays between two points during high-demand times or peak hours. However, it is important to emphasis that congestion happens way more than you think and is not limited to the roads during rush hour.

Operational congestion occurs in highly localized environments such as airports and warehouse distribution hubs. These environments often have few routes available for transportation and there is limited data collected about the movement of assets. With few route options and limited data – congestion is bound to occur.

While some delays are inevitable in these environments, allowing it to continue for too long is too costly for businesses to ignore. If businesses focus on the costs of grid locking and backlogs, they will find that many resources are wasted as staff are unable to maintain a steady workflow. Such delays cause a ripple effect and can adversely affect customer relations – as customers become frustrated standing in long waiting lines.

In comparison, non-localized environments (what much of the public encounters when travelling on highways or city streets) have data sources available to help alleviate congestion. Sources like Google Maps has been implemented to collect, display and analyze congestion information on an ongoing basis and in real-time to the masses. 

In fact, this flow and analysis of information has inspired operation managers to be specific in how and where they want to reduce operational congestion in localized environments. 

 

Congestion In Airports

With thousands of assets moving daily – highly localized environments like airport grounds are a prime example of where congestion can be found. With constantly moving assets, airport operations have a goal to optimize flow of traffic, reduce gridlock and lower wait times of assets in detention. 

To properly stop asset detention, an entire framework of what congestion is in an airport environment must be understood by equipping assets with various telematics solutions. By using connected sensors to see how equipment is being used, as well as GPS tracking to note the location and speed of vehicles – businesses can gain proper visibility into operations. Doing so will allow for assets to remain in movement, shortening servicing turnaround time and as a result, increase revenue.

 

The Repercussions of Congestion In Airports And Airport Resource Management

Airports cannot afford to allow congestion to be ongoing. Not only does it cause for asset detention or the pause of asset movement, but it results in a myriad of issues: 

  • Overall fleet performance will drop as work is at a standstill 
  • Some operations are at risk for being charged for the waits
  • Heavy financial losses are experienced as employees are paid even if work cannot be performed – causing a potential spike in higher ticket prices
  • Resources are wasted when equipment or vehicles are idling 
  • Passengers suffer lengthy delays when travelling 
  • Attention to detail and safety decreases as staff rush to complete tasks to stay on time  

It’s important to note that these repercussions of operational congestion may seem specific to airports, but very similar issues can be noticed in other highly localized environments. Distribution hubs, for example, are seen to encounter very similar productivity, financial and consumer effects. 

 

Triggers of Congestion

Airports are highly localized as there are few roads that thousands of assets must utilize at predetermined speeds. Since there can be numerous assets such as refuelers, tugs and tractors, water trucks, passenger boarding steps and more servicing, each aircraft – from the second it lands to moments before it takes off – can contribute to congestion. 

The problem of congestion is compounded when aircrafts take off and land every few minutes – meaning that they must undergo routine aircraft maintenance by servicing crews. This causes longer than necessary turnaround times, especially during high-traffic and peak times. 

Part II: The Solution To Operational Congestion – A Congestion Management Strategy

Aviation and Ground Service Crews Taking Advantage of Telematics

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Aviation and Ground Service Crews Taking Advantage of Telematics

The merging of telecommunications and informatics seems to be an ever-evolving sector as it continues to impress business owners across various industries. While it may be apparent of how it’s used for location tracking and maintenance monitoring in the trucking and logistics sector, it’s time to highlight its use in aviation. Similar to other industries, leading aviation and ground service crews use the technology in ways similar to fleet managers as the outcomes are as equally beneficial. 

 

Where Did Telematics Originate From?

 

When telematics technology was first being developed in the 1960s, it was initially used by the U.S. Department of Defense to aid in the position tracking of varying assets in addition to being a way to improve communication on the battlefield. However, as time continued and the technology evolved, leaders in other industries saw the potential of telematics elsewhere. When discussing airports and aviation, focus is greatly on the GPS tracking, asset monitoring and communication features.

 

Below are two examples that speak to the beneficial outcomes that resulted from aviation and ground service crews investing in telematics on runways. 

 

Why Aviation and Ground Services Continue to Implement Telematics Technology

 

Ensure Cost-Effective Utilization & Efficiency 

 

When large quantities of data are collected in real-time, immediate decisions can be made. That is especially true when airports utilize telematics solutions for the purpose of resource management and productivity. From monitoring fuel usage to asset location, beacons and sensors can be installed to track nearly every aspect of aircraft operations. Ultimately allowing officials to allocate employees and equipment properly to achieve maximum productivity, as well as being able to monitor and report on their efforts. 

 

A common and well-known example of this is allocating vehicles to complete tasks in relation to proximity and location. Meaning, when a specific type of vehicle is requested, officials can deploy an available vehicle that is closest. Allowing for fuel, physical resources as well as personnel to be used efficiently. If GPS tracking was not used, airports would risk sending vehicles that are much farther than others, causing them to waste time and resources. 

 

This is evident when deicing vehicles are required to spray aircrafts with a mixture of hot water and propylene glycol during the winter months. If a deicing vehicle is requested, it’s important to not only send the closest vehicle to the aircraft, but send a vehicle that has enough of the deicing fluid to complete the job. Both of these requirements are trackable by custom telematics solutions. However, when telematics technology is not used, airports risk using additional and unnecessary resources or equipment. This is simply because they were unaware and unable to track the most efficient way to complete the assigned task.

 

Verify Safety Protocol 

 

Telematics solutions are also highlighted as a means to increase and maintain safety within certain industries. This is true within the aviation sector as technology can not only be leveraged to track both employees and assets but to ensure safety protocol is followed. 

 

An example that highlights telematics technology aiding in the safety of aviation teams is how the technology can be used to track the efforts of employees on runways. Meaning, managers and officials can always have real-time updates about where individuals are located. So if they see that an employee is operating a vehicle in an unauthorized zone, they can make communication not only with the individual in the unauthorized zone, but with others around them to stop any activity that may accidentally harm the individual. Additionally, telematics can be used to track the driving behaviours of employees using company vehicles as many airports require drivers to authenticate who is in the driver’s seat. Meaning, sharp turns, speeding, or other dangerous behaviours can be recorded, addressed and monitored. Allowing for accidents and incidents on runways as well as the surrounding property to be drastically lowered. 

 

For more information about telematics and government services, visit: https://www.gofleet.com/government-services/airport/

 

The GoFleet Experience

To successfully implement a telematics solution, airports must feel confident about integrating a platform that addresses their full system. This includes ground handling, airlines, and airport authorities so true transparency and visibility can be accomplished. If you’re interested to learn more about how we can help provide a true 360 solution of complete management for any industry, contact us today!