20 APRIL 2008 GHI Start spreading the news... Cofoncutsract Months of planning and preparation fi nally came to a conclusion at 12:01 am on February 1, when ASIG commenced ground handling operations on a seven year contract for the airlines serving JFK International’s Terminal One. In terms of JFK’s ground handlers, ASIG is still considered a relatively new player. It was only four years ago that ASIG fi rst initiated operations at the airport with launch customer Virgin Atlantic Airways. Opportunities like that of Terminal One do not come along that often, especially in North America where most ground handling agreements are made directly with the carrier and typically not through a consortium or for an entire terminal or airport. Terminal One Group Association, also referred to as TOGA, is a consortium of four of the world’s leading international airlines, namely Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Lufthansa. Altogether, 16 carriers operate at T1 accounting for 10,000 fl ights and 4m passengers annually. Several of the terminal’s carriers were familiar with ASIG’s ground handling capabilities, but for quite a few their exposure has primarily been on the fuel handling side. “For ASIG, the opportunity to participate in a contract of this size was tremendous. Although we’re well known in the industry as a leading fuel services provider, ASIG is also a major ground handling operator. The company has been providing ground and other airport services for 60 years and has a quality product to offer,” comments Keith P Ryan, ASIG’s President. “Years of effort, establishing a presence at JFK and having a proven track record led us to where we are today. The Clinching a seven year handling deal is a double-edged sword. On the one side, there’s security of tenure whilst on the other is the necessity for investment in both manpower and material. Here’s how one handler coped. management group at TOGA witnessed our commitment and investment at T4, which aligned well with their requirement for a new fl eet of ground support equipment.” “We have invested over US$20m in start-up costs and equipment. It’s a statement of the commitment of our parent company, BBA Aviation, investing in the future of our ground handling business,” adds Andy Reeves, Vice President, Operations. ASIG is one of the larger subsidiaries of BBA Aviation, a company whose holdings are all aviationrelated. ASIG received the full backing and support of its parent company in pursuing this contract. Once the award was announced, ASIG tapped into key resources both internally and externally to be ready for the impending start date. “Excellent relationships with our equipment manufacturers were critical to our success. With little more than a 90 day delivery window, they were able to deliver 543 pieces of new equipment and all of our vendors met their delivery dates,” adds Andy Reeves. ASIG worked with 14 GSE specialists from around its network to help with the processing, commissioning and licensing of the equipment and for the training of new mechanics hired to maintain the fl eet at JFK. “It was quite a daunting task to have all the equipment licensed and in place on schedule, but our staff worked closely with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and everything was completed in time,” Andy Reeves observes. The GSE manufacturers also assisted ASIG with on-site training and staffi ng for the fi rst two weeks of operations.

GHI APRIL 2008 21 ASIG brought in a team of trainers from both its ground handling and GSE technical services operations across the network. The staff worked round the clock to retrain over 300 new employees, many of whom made the transition from the former provider. “As a company, we have placed a high priority on safety, and from day one, we fully engaged our corporate safety and training staff at JFK,” comments Keith Ryan. “We have HS&E managers and safety co-ordinators on staff covering operations every day, every shift at JFK. They are out on the ramp observing and performing inspections and we are committed to maintaining a safe operating environment. In an operation of this size, ready access to a qualified staff is critical.” “To support our growth at JFK, we have opened an off-site HR office staffed with recruiting professionals and have established a central training facility there as well,” notes Andy Reeves. He adds that while new TSA requirements have lengthened the ID process, ASIG is working with the TSA to have new recruits available for work as quickly as possible. Keith Ryan says that ASIG is also employing new technologies to maintain the highest possible level of service for the TOGA operation. “We are in the process of developing in-house a new automated handheld (PDA) data system for the management of our ground services operations. The integrated system will capture flight data such as handling times and ensure that we provide complete service delivery per IATA functions for each carrier. The system should be live by the end of the year and will be rolled out to all of our ground locations. TOGA will serve as our launch unit,” he confirms. In closing, Keith Ryan reflects on all the efforts ASIG’s staff has made, including the long hours and seven day weeks to launch the contract. “We’re very proud of the dedication of all the members of our launch team; they were instrumental throughout the entire start-up process. The responsiveness and co-operation of our vendors and commitment exhibited by our senior staff are invaluable. We are very fortunate to work with the four shareholders of TOGA and look forward to helping them provide their customers with a high quality, first class service.” The JFK contract occasioned a huge GSE investment.