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Airlines have traditionally sourced Ground Handling services in many different ways, ranging from operating all in-house to sub-contracting many services to third parties - this in turn could be one supplier or as many as 5 or 6 companies, each contributing one separate element of the operation.
Division of the Ground Handling contract to several suppliers may deliver financial benefits, but it rarely improves service levels and certainly increases administration in terms of both costs and time.
At London Heathrow, Plane Handling provides Virgin Atlantic with a complete integrated ground-handling package, encompassing cargo warehousing, delivery to aircraft and ramp handling. This "all in one" service gives Virgin a real competitive advantage with each and every one of its customers - both passengers and cargo.
The benefits to airlines of such an integrated service provision include:
- Single points of contact and control over the entire delivery
- Rapid response to demand and schedule changes
- Integrated Service level Agreement across all functions
- Improved "on-time" departures
- Flexible approach
- Later cargo delivery cut-off times
- Responsibility and accountability with a single supplier
- Option to outsource more of the other Airline functions to Plane Handling
- Seamless service, better communication and better value for money
- Team approach to problem solving and continuous improvement
- Reduced administration and accounting effort
- Opportunity for equipment to be branded with airline's logo
Overall, the value of such a package to the Airline is marked by their cargo service performance to customers increasing by around an extra 20%, compared to when using multiple ground-handling suppliers. In the same instance, on-time departures are rarely affected by problems relating to cargo issues when operating with an integrated service provider.
John Lloyd, Director of Cargo for Virgin Atlantic, commented, "Plane Handling is a vital part of the Virgin team, and has been a major contributor to our success. Virgin constantly sees enormous benefits both to our customers and ourselves of using an integrated service provider such as Plane Handling, both in increased customer service and efficiency of operation - this is further demonstrated in Virgin being awarded "Cargo Airline of the Year" for the last two years!"
The key to this success is the willingness for the Plane Handling team to contribute at each stage of the supply chain, working with Virgin to heighten service levels, improve capacities and enhance yields to the benefit of the airline's overall performance.
Although individual companies may try, they are rarely able to deliver that smooth and seamless operation time and time again. In contrast, using this "one-stop-shop" style of operation enables you to offer enhanced service levels to all your customers
Virgin Atlantic works ceaselessly to ensure passengers have the very best travel experience, both on the ground and in the air, and Plane Handling plays an integral part in making this happen.
We are continuously committed to giving all our carriers the outstanding level of service that your customers have come to expect. Our dedicated and professional team works in partnership with you, adding their expertise to ensure that all your targets are met. What we value most is your reputation, and with Plane Handling your reputation is in safe hands.
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