Airport handling hand-over hiccups

AIRLINES HAVE described the March 1 hand-over of ramp handling duties at OR Tambo International Airport to BidAir and Menzies as far from perfect, despite assurances to the contrary from Acsa. “Equity Aviation has left the building,” Airports Company of South Africa spokesperson Solomon Makgale told FTW last week. “It is quite refreshing to be dealing with professionals who don’t point fingers and pass the buck when there is a problem. The odd hiccup was to be expected, but things should return to normal in about two weeks. We are quite comfortable at the moment.” The airlines, however, are not so ‘comfortable.’ “What is smooth about cargo left standing at the airport while the plane is in the air, and empty?” asks chairman of the Air Cargo Operators’ Committee, Alwyn Rautenbach. “Our understanding is that Acsa has ruled that only new equipment is to be used on the ramp. Firstly, this has pushed the costs to more than double that of the previous handlers, and then there is simply not enough equipment to service all the carriers, with the equipment only arriving at the end of March.” “Everything happened in a ‘big bang’ approach,” says Bob Gurr of BidAir. “Some of the old Equity clients only committed in the last week of February, which put some strain on our planning and equipment. But Acsa granted us dispensation to use Equity’s old dollies until ours arrive next week. “The whole situation has been handled in a good spirit,” adds Gurr. “We received assistance from Menzies and Swissport when things got tight. We are all in the same boat. We are still waiting on some of our wide body equipment, which will only arrive at the end of the month.” “When the tenders opened for the three ramphandling licences, both BidAir and Menzies thought they were going for the third available licence,” Rautenbach told FTW after an Acoc meeting last week. This would have meant that the third licensee would have had to service fewer airlines not committed to either of the existing ramp-handlers, which would have meant their equipment needs would have been less than what they are now. “Now these two companies have to service all the airlines, which have all signed one year and longer contracts with the handlers.” This poses an interesting problem for when Acsa awards the third handling licence in June – what business will this new operator have with all the airlines already committed to either BidAir or Menzies? “The new licensee will begin operating in February next year, and will have to nudge their way into the market and attract business on their own,” says Gurr. “The only thing this exercise has achieved is an increased cost to all the airlines,” says Rautenbach. “The delays, some in excess of two hours, make the handling staff frantic, and this opens up vulnerabilities to accidents.” Communication remains a problem, with neither BidAir nor Menzies working out of a proper control centre. “I believe the two will share the old control centre building on the airport previously occupied by Equity, but it will still take a good month for things to settle down after the outstanding equipment arrives.”