Swissport Enhanced Ground Operations

Swissport International Ltd., a worldwide airport ground service provider, has recently signed an agreement with Honeywell Aerospace Company to employ their GoDirect Ground program for the next five years.  This collaboration will allow Swissport to operate using Honeywell’s ramps, providing them with real-time updates on baggage sorting, crew and passenger transportation, and aircraft loading and unloading.  All this data is then transmitted to the GoDirect Ground software and is used to help improve their services.

Swissport’s Global Fleet Vice President, David Burgess, hopes that this collaboration will help them develop “a safer and more efficient ramp environment, drive better on-time performance and lower fuel and maintenance costs”. Current estimates done by Swissport already predict a 13% decrease in aircraft repair and maintenance.  The decision to fully implement GoDirect Ground across Swissport’s entire operation, which spans over more than 50 countries and 318 airports, came after a successful test of five of their ground handling stations earlier in 2018.

Honeywell designed this program with their customers in mind. They were hoping to provide a solution that would decrease the number of delayed flights due to inefficient practices.  They reported that their intuitive and user-friendly GoDirect Ground solution offers the following benefits for airlines, airports, and ground handlers:

Airlines

• Saves millions in costs due to delays (per airport)
• Better on-time record
• Increased overall passenger experience
• Reduced turnaround time
• Better asset utilization

Airports

• Revenue increased due to better aircraft ground time (11% increase)
• Improved gate/ground-traffic planning, which means fewer gate changes
• More available flights, meaning higher revenue

Ground Handlers

• Up to 5% revenue increase due to better service tracking
• More control over coordination
• More accurate service-level information, which helps with invoicing