FEBRUARY 2013 GHI
6TH ASIAN GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 13
Welcome message
The 6th Asian Ground Handling International Conference Shangri-La Hotel, Cebu, The Philippines
he 6th annual conference begins at a time when our industry is yet again faced with challenging market conditions – but then again, this seems to have been the norm over the last decade. With the financial well-being of our industry intrinsically tied to the cost of a barrel of oil, it is worth looking back at oil prices. In 1999, the average cost of a barrel of crude was just US$35. At the end of 2012 it was US$111. That is an increase of just under 70% and we must not forget that in 2008, the barrel price hit just under US$150.
The good news is that we have survived, financially re-engineered our businesses and have tried to hang on to some margin in most of the contracts; and on the whole, the casualty rate amongst handlers has been lower than that of the airlines. We have tried to go “green” where possible to reduce our carbon footprint and, of course, our fuel costs but compared to our airline customers, the handling industry’s consumption is literally a drop in their very, very large fuel ocean. The engine suppliers and aircraft manufacturers have risen to the challenge to reduce the fuel burn and help to bring profitability back into the industry. Enter the new generation of composite aircraft – albeit a few years later than was first planned. The prospect of 20% fuel savings to the airlines has resulted in a backlog of over 880 787s and there are orders in place for over 600 A350s, so the total number of these new generation aircraft actually represent just under 8% of the overall number of passenger aircraft* flying today. Consequently, there is a very good chance that if you haven’t handled one yet, you will do soon.
But do we know enough about these
new aircraft to guarantee safe handling at any station around the globe? I am
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not convinced we do - and if you were present in the room at the 15th annual conference in Milan last November, when we heard from a highly respected aeronautical engineering company that had been involved in the stress testing and blunt impact testing of the composite panels used to manufacture the fuselage, and then from one of the aircraft manufacturers, you may now share my concerns. The problem is that the new composite material is strong, flexible and unlikely to show any external evidence of typical GSE impact, unlike a traditional fuselage. During testing, the type of blunt impact that could result from GSE can damage the internal structure of the fuselage without visible evidence on the external skin. Because the paint is bonded to the fuselage it is like a flexible skin that will just return to its former position, rather than crack or come away. So we have a couple of scenarios to play out. Scenario one: a handler is unfortunate and impacts heavily an area of the fuselage. He checks for damage but none is visible. Does he think “Lucky me, I have got away with this so I don’t need to mention it” or does he call his supervisor, who then has to decide if the aircraft should be grounded and sent for a maintenance check where specialised equipment can be used to determine if there is internal damage and a repair is needed. I will leave you to make your own call but while you are thinking about it, who will pay for the delay? I would like to discuss this at greater length in the open debate session as well as wider handling safety issues. So with this important safety issue as well as papers on the financial overview, training, green handling and essential IT tools, we have a lot to look forward to over the next couple of days.
*Passenger jets: 30 seats and above
Tim Ornellas Publisher Ground Handling International
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