APRIL 2013 GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL
RAMP FORUM 65
Uniform approach to recycling in Paris
ir France has revealed that it is organising a collection of used ground staff and crew uniforms at Paris Orly and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports. This new eco-friendly operation began in January and was set to run until mid-March. All the uniforms collected in this manner from the staff concerned will subsequently be recycled as car insulation material at a specialised processing plant. This innovative experiment is actually a first for Air France and it may well be renewed, depending on the rate of participation. In the long term, the carrier says that it will be aiming to expand the operation to all of its employees in uniform. The airline has estimated that the weight of the clothing collected will be close to 30 tonnes, which would be enough to equip around 1,350 vehicles with insulation material made from the recycled fibres.
This operation is being led by the Air France Purchasing division, in partnership with the CEPOVETT group and SITA France, which is providing the operational management. In addition, employees who so wish can also donate their own personal clothing to the cause (or in this case, cars).
Grand theft leads to hundreds of redundancies
Between 2002 and 2011, the Transportation Security Administration has revealed that it fired nearly 400 employees. In all cases the accusation was the same: that of allegedly stealing from travellers. An ABC News release broke down the firings by airport which revealed that most of the airports in the top 20 for staff theft also happened to experience the highest traveller volumes.
Miami came out top of the list with 29 TSA firings, and was followed by JFK International airport, with 27 cases. Dallas/ Fort Worth International airport (which is fourth in the US in terms of passenger boarding) tied with New York’s LaGuardia
airport as sixth on the theft list: in all, 14 employees were fired at each station. Meanwhile, Houston’s George Bush
Intercontinental airport (which ranks tenth in terms of passenger volumes) tied with Salt Lake City International airport for twelfth place. Each experienced ten instances of alleged employee theft that subsequently resulted in firings.
Seat sparks showdown for a female flyer
It was inevitable, I suppose, in this day and age of liberalised ticket selling. Quite recently a JetBlue flight to San Diego had to divert to Denver because a female passenger became unruly. Not drink, nor yet again angst: on this occasion it was because the passenger next to her had been upgraded. The female in question had paid US$65 for a more spacious seat on the aircraft but was dismayed when an economy class traveller was moved from his seat and placed alongside her because his television monitor was malfunctioning. Agitated, the woman remonstrated with the flight crew over what she saw as unfair treatment and abused the man next to her. At this point a federal air marshall intervened, and the aircraft was re-routed.
Jumbo problem awaits resolution at Phitsanulok
On to Thailand, and the provincial airport that wants two Boeing 747s left standing in the same spot since 2008 to be moved. The engines of both aircraft have been removed and Orient Thai pays the airport some 70,000 baht in parking fees each month. The Director of Phitsanulok airport has called upon police to quickly wrap up their investigation of the two decommissioned aircraft that are the property of Orient Thai, since the airport authority needs the parking space. One of the two B747s sports a sign
reading ‘’This plane is to be donated for educational purposes”: apparently the airline asked permission for this graphic. Needless to say, the signs have aroused the curiosity of passengers flying in and out of the central province, with many of them recording the sight before leaving the airport.
The two jumbo jets were investigated
in March 2011 because Crime Suppression Division police suspected that parts were being secretly sold to avoid payment of taxes. So far the police have not pressed charges against the airline but have ordered the airport not to move the B747s until the case is closed.
Glamour of aviation attracts plenty of hopefuls
Maybe it’s the weak job market or maybe it’s a renewed interest in the joy of flight, but US Airways has revealed that more than 16,500 people applied for 450 jobs as flight attendants recently. The company says about 700 of the applicants got past telephone screening to the interview stage, after which offers were made to 240. The company said in a newsletter that went out to employees that the first class of new flight attendants would be graduating in March. Company spokeswoman Michelle Mohr added that the hiring would cover natural attrition. It is interesting to note that this behaviour follows a similar pattern to that at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Delta, the second-biggest carrier, reported that it received a staggering 22,000 applicants for just 300 flight attendant jobs, which equated to two applications per minute.
Got a comment or seen something newsworthy? Simply contact the editor:
alwyn@groundhandling.com
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