Leon Mario Dsouza

NEWSLETTER | JAN – DEC 2009 BLUE SKiES IN THIS ISSUE AISATS welcomes DHL Global CEO AISATS Continues to Contribute to Society AISATS – ISAGO Certification Austrian Airlines signs with NACIL/ AISATS Ayudha Puja at AISATS AISATS has successfully implemented an integrated ERP System – Rsmart AISATS Delhi Team meets Airline Clients AISATS – The Official Ground Handler for Aero India 2009 AISATS inaugurates its Basketball Team NACIL – SATS Joint Working Group in Mumbai and Delhi AISATS GOI Handling Unit Working in the JV Cargo Handling Benchmarks Express Industry Council of India’s new facility at AISATS Airfreight Terminal Work Hard! Play Hard! AISATS enters into a Security Partnership Program with DHL Station Overcome Challenges and Shows Improvement in Performance AISATS Handles your Aircraft with Brand New Equipment AISATS welcomes DHL Global CEO On 7th October 2009, AISATS Air Freight Terminal Bangalore had a very important visitor – Mr. Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Post DHL, which is the group company of all DHL subsidiaries. During his first visit to India which covered Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, Mr. Appel accompanied by the Senior Management Team comprising of Mr. Amadou Diallo - CEO South Asia Pacific, Mr.Thomas Tieber - CEO South Asia, Mr.Christoph Remund - CEO DHL India, Mr.Yung C Ooi - Corporate Communications Director Asia Pacific/EEMEA DHL Singapore, and Ms. Silje Skogstad - SVP External Communications Deutsche Post DHL, visited the warehouse and offices of DHL Global Forwarding, located in the Air India SATS Air Freight Terminal. He also visited the Blue Dart DHL Express Terminal located next to the freight terminals. As per feedback from DHL India Management, Mr. Appel was pleased with the facilities at the AISATS Terminal and hoped that similar arrangements could be worked out with AISATS in Mumbai and other major airports. AISATS would soon be entering into a Security Partnership Program with DHL that would cover sharing of Non-Confidential Information and Industry Best Practices in Loss Prevention against Cargo Crime, as well as sharing of Security Awareness Training Materials that would help processing high value shipments through AISATS Terminal. AISATS01 1 || www.aisats.in AISATS www.aisats.in AISATS Continues to Contribute to Society The Blood Donation Camp was organized by AISATS and Lion’s Club-North, in association with Lion’s Blood Bank, at AISATS Airport Services - Bangalore International Airport, on 16th March 2009. AISATS visited The Mathru Educational Trust for the Blind on 7th Nov, 2009. The Mathru Educational Trust was registered on January 15, 2001. The Trust is a registered, non-profit, voluntary organization dedicated to serving the blind by providing quality education, training, skill development, and placement. AISATS Senior Management and Staff spent a good part of the day interacting with the children and the Founder Member and Managing Trustee – Ms. Gubbi R. Muktha. The children at Mathru truly touched AISATS with their talent by performing a very moving song and act. The entire premises was visited along with Ms. Muktha to see classes in progress and children being trained with facilities like the sound recording room and the computer aided training facility for the blind, as well as the training and making of environmental friendly paper bags, rugs and other items as extracurricular activities thus enabling these children to becoming independent. AISATS spent time with the children, by sponsoring a lunch and having a meal together, as well as gifting the children toys, clothes and other items which AISATS certainly hopes will help the children in whatever little way at Mathru, as well as understanding the difficulties that these children have to go through on a day to day basis, that we sometimes take for granted. AISATS will certainly continue with similar events and activities in the near future as a commitment to the needy of society. This camp was inaugurated by Mr. Kwa Tjun Kyet - Senior Vice President - Cargo and Marketing at AISATS. A total of 176 units of blood were contributed by the staff of AISATS. Thanks to the effort of Mr. M.G. Somashekar - Asst. Vice President - HR / Admin at AISATS and the contribution by all the staff at AISATS the donation was an excellent contribution. Present at the camp, where the first unit of the blood was handed over to Dr. Atoshi Sinha, Medical Officer, Lion’s Blood Bank, also present were Dist. Governor, Lion. Vamshidhar Babu, of Dist 324 D6, and the Lion President, Lion. Nagaraj. AISATS team effort has shown its commitment to contribute to society and will continue to do so with many similar contributions in the near future. AISATS employees contribute toward the flood victims of North Karnataka. “Our sincere thanks and gratitude to the AISATS team members.” SAMUEL PRABHAKAR ASM, Bangalore, Emirates AISATS 2 | www.aisats.in The employees of Air India SATS contributed generously to the TV9 TV channel, Bangalore, on Tuesday, November 17th 2009, toward the relief operations for the flood victims of North Karnataka, launched by the channel. B. Maltesh from AISATS Customer Service Department, along with 128 staff, and Nabeel Ur Rahman from AISATS Cargo Department, along with 35 staff, led the way to contribute a grand total of INR 60,516/-, by forgoing a day’s salary for the flood victims. AISATS 3 | www.aisats.in AISATS – ISAGO Certification Regulatory Authorities will benefit from:  Enhanced regulatory safety oversight  Uniform audit process and recognized standards  Improvement of oversight by airport operators AISATS has aimed to become the first ISAGO Certified Ground Handling Service Company in India. Ground Handling Companies that model their operations on the ISAGO standards are viewed as companies committed to operate to globally accepted industry best practices. AISATS – ISAGO CERTIFICATION CURRENT STATUS • Conducted ISAGO Awareness Training Programme to all staff • Studied and filled the gaps in documentation as per ISAGO prescribed standards • Training on the revised documentation to the staff is under progress • ISAGO Internal Audit Team has been formed to conduct Internal Audits • Internal Audits will start from the last week of November 2009 AISATS initiated the process of preparation towards ISAGO compliance in the month of July, 2009. BACKGROUND OF ISAGO With the rapid growth of air traffic, airport operations have become increasingly complex. More and larger aircrafts, an increase in ground support equipment and faster turnaround times all contribute to the challenge. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has developed and implemented the IATA Safety Audit of Ground Operations (ISAGO) being the first global safety audit program with the main aim of improving operational safety and efficiency in the airport ground operations environment, reducing ground handling incidents and accidents, and improving efficiency by reducing the number of audits on ground handling companies. It is modelled on IOSA frame work. BENEFITS OF ISAGO Benefits to AISATS Customer Airlines that are required to audit the ground handling company include:  Reduction in number of audits  Lower risk of ground damage  Cost savings  More efficient processes  Improved quality standards  Better understanding of high-risk areas within ground operations As for the Ground Handling Company, the benefits include:  Reduction of incidents and accidents  Fewer injuries to personnel  Reduction of redundant audits from customer airlines  Opportunity to refocus resources on operations  Improvement of operational safety capability  Enhanced company image and reputation AISATS 4 | www.aisats.in AISATS has planned to go for ISAGO Certification Audit on or before Jan 2010. “There were some great initiatives taken from you and your team members which helped us. It goes to show that we can achieve many things together as one team. Thank you for all the support you and your team extended.” Austrian Airlines signs with NACIL/ AISATS SHILPA CHANDAN Emirates for the last decade. We look forward to taking this partnership forward with the proposed AISATS ground handling joint venture and look forward to continued cooperation in the years to come.” From left to right: Kenneth Chua - Senior Manager (Projects) West Asia - SATS Krishan Madan - Duty Manager - Austrian Airlines Homi Debara - Area Station Manager (India and Nepal) - Austrian Airlines S.Asokan - Asst. General Manager (Techincal) - Air India Tasneem Khan - Project Coordinator (West Asia) Austrian Airlines has chosen to renew its contract in Delhi with NACIL, with view to novate it to AISATS in future when the JV has been incorporated. Says Homi Debara (Area Station Manager, India): “Austrian Airlines is pleased to continue being ground handled by NACIL who has also been a valuable codeshare partner NACIL and AISATS appreciate OS’ confidence in our services. AISATS looks forward to bringing the partnership with OS to a higher level in future. Austrian Airlines is currently operating daily flights between Delhi and Vienna, using B767 aircraft. AISATS 5 | www.aisats.in Ayudha Puja at AISATS - September 2009 AISATS Delhi Team AISATS – The meets Airline Clients Official Ground Handler for Aero India 2009 SATS Delhi Team has been very active meeting with airline clients to update them on the latest developments in relation to the AISATS Joint Venture. Air India SATS has successfully implemented an integrated ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, Rsmart for both its businesses - ground handling and cargo handling at both locations Bangalore and Hyderabad as on 27th February 2009. Rsmart BOS (Resource Smart — Back Office System) is a stateof-the art, vertical specific ERP solution addressing all the process automation needs of aviation and airport related services organizations. Rsmart covers all the processes related to the ground and cargo handling companies, ranging from their recruitment to retirement, flight opening and closing to final billing, complete financial accounting, equipment maintenance and asset accounting, procurement and inventory, biometric attendance and duty planning and allocations. Modules covered by Rsmart: • Procurement • Inventory • Human Resource · Payroll AISATS 6 | www.aisats.in AISATS has successfully implemented an integrated ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) System – Rsmart · Duty Roster · Bio-metric attendance • Quality Control • Financial Accounting · General Ledger · Accounts Payable · Accounts Receivable · Asset Register • Maintenance and Repair · Preventive · Break-down • Operations · Flight opening · Flight closing · Additional Services • Contracts • Automated Billing Rsmart BOS is a frame-work based solution, any-time-ready for business rule changes in terms of contractual obligations or service level agreement (SLA) based changes in the processes. These changes can be configured in Rsmart and accurate invoicing is possible with its flexible design. Rsmart BOS is an intemet and intranet based solutions, helping the users access and work on the system wherever they are. The user configurable reports helps to take appropriate decisions on time. Overall, Rsmart BOS integrates all the departments of Air India SATS into one database, collaborating the required information, making the information available to all the stake holders including their partners, customers and vendors. They have been in close contact and continuous talks on the rising developments with Malaysian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Continental Airways, EVA Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern, Air China and Emirates just to name a few. SATS Delhi Team has also been providing remarkable solutions to airline clients like Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines in order to help. Mr. Alan Field and Mr. Joseph P Curau - Continental Airlines AISATS Bangalore was chosen as the Official Ground Handler for the Aero India 2009 – Asia’s Premier Air Show, a biennial event that was organized by Defence Exhibition Organization, Ministry of Defence and Confederation of Indian Industry. The mega international event was held at Air Force Station Yelahanka during 11th to 15th February 2009. The major participation was of Defence Aircraft that were brought in by Air Force of various countries both for flying demonstration as well as static display. In addition there were business jets viz.ERJ 135 from Embraer, Brazil, Gulf Stream 550 from Israel Aerospace Industries, Falcon 7X from Dassault and Cessna that were put on static display. The highlights of the show were aerobatics by F16 Viper, F18 Hornet from the US, Euro fighter Typhoon from Germany, MIG 35 from Russia. The Indian Air Force also displayed its Air Power through impressive aerobatics of Tejas the Light Combat Aircraft, Hawk the Trainer, Saras the reconnaissance aircraft and ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) all developed indigenously by HAL. AISATS Bangalore provided required equipment, operators and staff for commercial and technical support. The equipment provided GPU, ACU, Forklifts, main were Push Back Tractors etc. Welcome Banners were put on approach road to Yelahanka as well as at the site Ramp office. AISATS 7 | www.aisats.in AISATS inaugurates its Basketball Team AISATS after successfully conducting a cricket tournament on the 5th of April 2009 for its staff, and having productively registered its cricket team with the KSCA, inaugurated AISATS Women’s Basketball Team on the 7th of June 2009, at 8:00 a.m., at Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium, Jayanagar, Bangalore. “May I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the pax DM/staff and Ramp DM/ staff for execution and display of commendable performance. Mr. Debashish Golder, Vice President Cargo, AISATS, inaugurated the Women’s Basketball Team, and also present from the management of AISATS to cheer on the players for a warm up and practice match were Mr. MG Somashekar, Assistant Vice President Human Resources, Mr. S. Venkata Subramani, Assistant Vice President Finance, Mr. Venu R., Manager Ramp Operations and Mr. Amit Singh, Manager Information Technologies. Truly good job. My sincere regards and appreciation.” Mr. Sridhar, International Referee whose presence was much appreciated, provided positive guidance to the players. Active participation and high levels of enthusiasm were eagerly shown from the newly inaugurated team. NACIL – SATS Joint Working Group in Mumbai and Delhi As the date for implementation of new ground handling policy draws near, people on the ground from both NACIL and SATS have been actively preparing for the AISATS start-up. Joint Working Groups comprising of people from both companies, are reviewing the current operations processes and procedures, followed by detailed and effective planning, to be implemented from AISATS start-up. Our objective is simply to improve customer service to our customers. The JWGs are concurrently working on all areas of operations and looking into details such as manpower, Mr. Debashish Golder, Vice President (Cargo), AISATS, inaugurated the women’s basketball team roster patterns, shift patterns, job descriptions, deployment matrix, activity flow, etc. for the ramp loaders and equipment operators; customer service for our passenger handling staff. One Joint Working Group is also working on Corporate Services which includes areas such as HR, IT, Purchasing & Supplies, Learning & Development, Safety & Security, Operational Coordination Centre, Properties & Facilities, etc. The Mumbai team also has plans to undertake detailed Time Motion Study covering the whole airport, to help us establish realistic Key Performance Indicators (KPI). This in turn will help us objectively and accurately evaluate service expectations with our airline customers. We may be the first to do such a study at the airport, indicating the seriousness with which we take on our service standards. With regards to training, we have set up training road maps for the staff from the various departments, customizing the emphasis according to their level and service function. For instance, aside from the basic safety, security and skill training, we will be emphasizing safety MOHIUDDIN AHMED Apm, Air Arabia, BIAL, Bangalore “We thank the entire team of AISATS for supporting us for the highest bonded and domestic cargo uplift out of BAIL”. ANAND N.PILLAI Duty Manager (Cargo Operations), Jet Airways AISATS GOI Handling Unit – 12th Aug 2009 Pursuant to the Ministry of Finance - Government of India directive, advising that all Government of India official travel is to be on NACIL Flights, as suggested by CMD NACIL, it was decided to provide exclusive terminal handling for the GOI travellers at BIAL through AISATS. It is estimated that Government of India travel business is valued at approximately 500 million USD per annum. A dedicated AISATS Team for GOI Handling Unit was set up, equipped with special uniforms - saris, badges (Bowing Maharajah with GOI Handling Unit written in three languages), Standees with similar design for kerbside identification and exclusive counters for Check-In, etc. The Unit which has mainly female staff is supported by 5 porters, donned in navy blue jackets, trousers and a badge. designated as the office of the GOI Handling Unit, was provided with PCs with NACIL connectivity, mobile phones, internet, printers and fax facilities. The unit has been given a separate email id-Specially designed business cards with all contact details was also prepared, which is personally handed over to each passenger, along with their boarding card for ready reference in future. The GOI Handling Unit has been trained in Customer Service Skills to provide complete Kerb to Kerb Assistance for both hand, as well as, registered baggage, escorting passengers all the way via Check-in Counter, Security Hold, Lounge and Aircraft and vice versa. The Special Unit became operational on 12th August 2009. The AISATS Service Counter in the Passenger Terminal Building, Capt AK Sharma (NACIL Head of Project) & Willy Ko (SATS Head of Project) in close discussion during JWG AISATS 8 | www.aisats.in AISATS 9 | www.aisats.in Working in the JV... “Working with my SATS colleagues is truly a very enjoyable and refreshing experience. “The arrival and departure movements were very smooth and flawless.” “My experience with SATS has been very enjoyable as our interactions and deliberations are always open, transparent and decision making on all issues is always joint and collective.” “I would like to express my appreciation to your team for the help and good support extended for this CAAS audit and at all other times. Many thanks.” MANAV CHOPRA Asst. Manager (Operations) Universal Aviation, India With Air India’s network in India and SATS experience in ground handling at some of the best airports around the world, the combination will truly add a lot of value and greatly improve the standard of ground handling in India.” PUA YAN PING Station Manager Bangalore Singapore Airlines Limited MG SOMASHEKAR joined Air India on 1st August 1996 as Assistant Manager - Technical Civil Engineering Department, Mumbai. Later having taken a transfer to Bangalore in the year 2000 to the Commercial Department as Assistant Manager – Administration, looking after all matters related to administration and coordination of HAJ Flights for Karnataka, was promoted to Manager – Administration in 2001, until deputed to AISATS as Assistant Vice President – Administration and Human Resources in December 2007. Having worked at Mumbai and Kolkata airports where Air India was providing services to various airlines as their handling agent, I realized the constraints in facilities, namely manpower, we faced and the priority we could give to clients. At AISATS these constraints are not there and there is just a single objective of always more than deliver on service levels that we have agreed to provide to airlines and maintain/develop all our business partners. Ground handling is a professional activity and in my experience shows that such services cannot be managed by an airline unless it creates a separate business unit that is in control and responsible for all that is required to provide to airlines. “Keep up the good work.” CHITRA SRINIVAS Assistant Manager (Traffic, Baggage Service) SATS is a well known and professional handling company and a tie-up with Air India is a welcome move that brings in a formidable team of skills, experience of the largest Indian carrier and systems, discipline and work practices one of the best Handling companies in Asia. In line with the changing aviation policy of which Ground Handling policy is a critical component and regulations put in by private airports, number of which will only go up, the national carrier must not lose the opportunity to retain the lucrative GH and Cargo business that currently offers a much higher margin than pure airline operations. To that end Air India must tie up with a professional set up like SATS and emerge as the most preferred GH & Cargo handling unit across India focusing more on international airlines. AISATS will garner maximum market share by virtue of its presence across India and comfort level and a price that airlines having many points of call will enjoy with us.” DEBASHISH GOLDER Assistant General Manager with Air India since 2006. Joined Air India as a management trainee in 1987. Having 22 years of airline experience; worked across India and in various areas of commercial department – Airport Operations – Passenger and Cargo Handling, Sales & Marketing, Project Management, HQs and having important overseas assignment in Jeddah, Shanghai and Doha, now with AISATS Joint Venture as Vice President – Cargo. AISATS 10 | www.aisats.in “I had the privilege of being associated with JV right from its inception in 2007 and have worked with the strategic teams from NACIL and SATS on the various aspects of JV starting from drawing up of business plans, equipment and manpower planning as well as marketing the new product. I joined the JV in January 2008 as Assistant Vice President - Marketing and Quality Assurance and took up the additional charge of Passenger Service in March 2008. “Positive attitude with superior customer service.” TOM WRIGHT General Manager ME India, Africa and Pak At AISATS we are certainly well on our way to making a big difference in the quality and standard of ground handling service in India, having already made our mark in Bangalore and Hyderabad. My experience can be categorized in two different phases, one prior to commencement of operations and second thereafter. The planning and development as well as marketing the new products being launched for the first time in India, was quite challenging and exciting which was carried out by a dedicated team of experienced people from NACIL and SATS. “I am glad being a part of this JV.” achieve ‘to deliver what we promised our customer’. Yes, initial period was bit difficult but our customer airlines gracefully accepted these as teething problem. Then onwards there is no looking back. I had a wonderful experience and really enjoyed working for JV and equally enjoyed my association with SATS colleagues. The integration between the JV partners is almost complete with each one understanding the other well and working towards one objective ‘Customer is King’.” RAJENDRA SAHAI joined Indian Airlines in the year 1971 and worked in different capacities at the middle and senior management level, looking after Ground Handling Marketing as well as operations division for nearly 14 years dealing with almost 50 Customer Airlines. A DGCA certified Load Master and trainer on Weight and Balance for almost 10 years, held positions as Marketing Manager Northern India, General Manager North and General Manager , Traffic Services in the Corporate Office at Delhi. Besides postings in India, was posted for three years as Regional Manager, South East Asia, with office in Singapore, covering the territories of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Post commencement of operations, there were bigger challenges to AISATS 11 | www.aisats.in Cargo Handling Benchmarks Work Hard! Play Hard! AISATS conducted a cricket tournament for its entire staff Since AOD i.e. 24th May 2008 to 31st March 2009, AISATS Air Freight Terminal Bangalore handled 47,191 tons of international cargo and 16,228 tons of domestic cargo thus totaling to 63,419 tons in slightly over ten months. at NRA Grounds, Jayamahal, Bangalore. In 2008/09 AISATS maintained a lead in market share at 54%. For international cargo, the top most carrier for us was Singapore Airlines (SQ) which accounted for almost 20000 tons or 42% of the total international cargo. In the domestic front, NACIL (IC) carried maximum outbound cargo - 5207 tons whilst it was Jet Airways (9W) that carried highest inbound cargo at 3896 tons. The Office of Assistant Drug Controller Government of India along with a small laboratory facility will also be housed in AISATS Air Freight Terminal Bangalore shortly. This development will greatly assist trade and companies for regular movement of pharmaceuticals and bulk drugs through Bangalore. Mr. Harbans Singh, Mr. Raymond Kok, Mr. Simon Ng, Mr. Willy Koh, Mr. Karmjit Singh, Mr. Roy Ng, Ms. Tasneem Khan, Mr. Neeraj Sharma (JL), Mr. Kwa Tjun Kyet Express Industry Council of India’s (EICI) new facility at AISATS Airfreight Terminal Winners of the Interoffice T/20 Cricket tournament: Winners of the Tournament – Customer Support Services (Captain Hyder) Runners Up of the Tournament – RAMP (Captain Senthil Kumar) Man of the Match: Manjunath (RAMP) – Match 1 Jamshi (CSS) – Match 2 Kiran (CSS) – Match 3 AISATS Management took an active participation in the event and were all there to cheer and support the different teams to contribute their best to this fun and enjoyable day. The largest passenger aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380, touched down at Hyderabad, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, and the handling of this aircraft was entrusted to Express Industry Council of India’s (EICI) - Common User facility for Courier and Express Shipments located at the basement level of AISATS Airfreight Terminal, BIAL was inaugurated by Mr. P. Radhaksrihnan - Joint Commissioner of Customs ACC BIAL, Mr. R. K. Saboo Chairman EICI, Mr. Farrokh Morena - Secretary General EICI and Mr.Vijay Kumra COO EICI on the 26th of May 2009. The inaugural function was attended by the Trade, Airlines, Customs, Menzies Bobba Aviation Cargo and AISATS Cargo. AISATS 12 | www.aisats.in The cricket match ensured a great stage for team building, motivation, competitiveness, communication and better understanding between team members, and has certainly further increased the already high levels of motivation and commitment. Details of the Tournament: Tournament comprised of four teams: 1. Cargo staff – Yellow 2. Ramp staff – Red 3. Corporate and Security staff – Blue 4. Customer Support staff – Orange This exclusive terminal with 10,000sft. of processing and office area has been granted separate Custodianship by Customs. The facility has been equipped with three X-ray machines and offices for Customs to handle both domestic and international export and import shipments. EICI facility at AISATS Airfreight Terminal, BIAL is the first in Southern India after establishing itself in Mumbai and Delhi. With this new facility, the tonnage through AISATS Airfreight Terminal, BIAL will initially pick up by around 100 tons a month and will soon reach 500 tons a month. the experienced AISATS Ground Handling team at Hyderabad, truly highlighting the flexibility and efficiency of the ground handler and the latest equipment present to handle the A380. AISATS 13 13 || www.aisats.in www.aisats.in AISATS AISATS enters into a Security Partnership Program with DHL Station Overcome Challenges and Shows Improvement in Performance with team AISATS, BLR Since April, Bangalore has consistently been among the top three stations ranked in the SIA Cargo Service Performance Surveys. DHL Global Forwarding – the freight forwarding division of DHL, the world’s leading express and Logistics Company signed a security partnership with Air India SATS, Bengaluru, on 20th November 2009. The MOU signing ceremony was held during a media briefing held at the Taj Residency Bangalore. Mr. Christoph Remund, CEO - DHL Lemuir Logistics Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Willy Ko, Vice President – Projects West Asia SATS and Mr. Debashis Golder, Vice President - Cargo, Air India SATS Bangalore, representing the partners, signed the MOU on Security Partnership Program. This is the first time in the Indian Air Freight Industry that a freight forwarder has initiated a security partnership program with a cargo terminal operator. According to the partnership program MOU, DHL Global Forwarding will work together with Air India SATS and agree on standard operating procedures (SOP) for high-value and high-risk air cargo, share best practices information on crime trends, as well as Security Awareness Training Materials that will not only ensure a more efficient supply chain but also help create a safer environment for DHL and Air India SATS employees who handle high-value and high-risk products. AISATS Handles your Aircraft with Brand New Equipment AISATS 14 | www.aisats.in “What we have built over the last year and a half is a relationship. It is wonderful to observe the camaraderie in which both our teams work. Be it cargo build up, break down or at the ramp handling, it is a delight to see the staff communicate effectively to get the task on hand completed and move on to the next level.” JOHN MORRIS Manager Sales & Services Singapore Airlines Cargo Since April, Bangalore has consistently been among the top three stations ranked in the SIA Cargo Service Performance Surveys. SIA Cargo Manager Sales & Services Karnataka. John Morris recounts how the station notched up a steady improvement in performance since the move to the new Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) last year. The station owes its improved performance to the combined efforts of our operations team and our cargo and ramp-handling partners, Air India-SATS (AI-SATS). Since the opening of BIA on May 24, 2008, our operations team has worked with our partners to ensure they understood our procedures and systems, and to motivate them to raise their service levels. Together, with great teamwork, we were able to tackle the challenges that cropped up in the run-up to, and following, the opening of the new airport. For more than a month after the new airport opened, our operations staff worked at the old airport and traveled daily to BIA to handle the six weekly freighter and daily passenger flights. This daily commute – which could take up to three hours because the main highway was under construction – was necessitated by a delay in completing the interior works in our new airport office due to water seepage caused by heavy rain. With cargo acceptance at the old airport ceasing on May 15, 2008 and cargo processing at BIA starting only on May 22, the new airport opened with severe cargo congestion. Shippers and cargo agents offloaded their cargo at the terminal and the AI-SATS team had a tough time locating cargo for our flights. Nonetheless, SIA Cargo was the only carrier to receive imports on May 24 on opening day. All other airlines had embargoed imports due to the congestion at the terminal. Our first freighter, SQ7378, arriving from Singapore and bound for Sharjah and Amsterdam, departed on schedule, winning us praise from BIA for being the only carrier to depart on time on the inaugural day. By the end of 2008, improvement was clearly visible, thanks to our collective efforts. After the initial hiccups and challenges at BIA, we are happy with the progress we have made and are determined to work together with the AI-SATS team to further improve our performance. – John Morris, BLR Manager Sales & Services, Karnataka John Morris (Front, 3rd from left), with SQ BLR staff posing in front of new BIA Control Tower AISATS 15 | www.aisats.in AISATS 16 | www.aisats.in Hyderabad – Corporate Office Maintenance Centre, Gate #2, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, Hyderabad 501 218. T: - F: - AISATS Products / Services Cargo Handling I Passenger Handling I Baggage Handling I Flight Dispatch I Ramp Handling I Cabin Cleaning I Aviation Security Designed by Exit Design | www.exitdesign.in Bengaluru C 05L Bengaluru International Airport, Devanahalli, Bangalore 560 300. T: - F: -/ 54/ 56