Assessing performance variability of ground handlers to comply with airport quality standards

مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Ground handling covers a wide range of services that support airline air operations. It may include both technical services, such as maintenance, fuel & oil services, freight handling, and passengers’ essential services, i.e. check-in, disembarkation, surface transport, baggage handling, comfort.

This industry experienced a very dynamic development and growth, since the introduction of Council Directive 96/67/EC (EU, 1996). In accordance with the liberalisation of the air transport, the Directive aims at developing the competition among players to increase the efficiency of the ground handling activities, to decrease the average costs, increase the quality levels of services and enhance the choice for airlines (Soames, 1997). The definition of quality, which has to include safety matters, baggage delays, environmental matters, etc., evolves in a two-party service level agreement between airlines and ground handlers.

greement between airlines and ground handlers. After the Directive’s implementation, Airport Research Center (2009) showed a decreasing trend on prices and an increase of competition, given the large number of third party handling companies entering the market. Anyway, statistics on quality level were unclear. While many airport managing bodies and airlines are generally satisfied, others observe that quality levels suffered from this competition on costs (Costantino et al., 2013).