swissport worldwide swissport becomes a global ground ... · pdf fileamong these are major...

T H E F I G U R E S A R E impressiveindeed.In this new constellation Dyn-Air, Swissport and their joint venturepartners are now represented by astaff of 14 300 employees at 103 air-ports around the world.And with 322airlines available to their customers,they will be jointly handling morethan 958 000 flights per year. Untilnow Swissport has not had a presencein the North American market. WithDynAir Inc., which has its headquar-ters in Washington D.C., the Swissportfamily has been increased by 57 loca-tions. Among these are major hubslike New York (JFK) and Los Ange-les, but also Boston, Miami, Chicago,Denver,Anchorage and dream desti-nations like Hawaii.Outside the USADynAir operates two stations: inCagliari, Italy, and in Khabarovsk,Russia. The integrated operation ofSwissport and DynAir should be anideal alliance for both companies. Alarge gap in the worldwide servicenetwork has been closed, and cus-tomers will benefit in the future notonly from such enlargement, but alsofrom cost-saving multi-point incen-tive programmes. The contract port-folio of DynAir already includes 298airlines for which the company and itssubsidiaries, DynAir Fueling Inc. andAir Carrier Service Inc.,provide a full

complement of services. In additionto traditional ground-handling activi-ties these include overnight mail, callcentres, line maintenance and fuel-ing. Air Carrier Services, based in Salt Lake City, exclusively providescabin cleaning but also operates a callcentre in San Antonio,Texas for Mex-icana Airlines. Hallmark, a Californ-

ian ground handling company inwhich DynAir has a 51% stake, is ajoint venture with Qantas. The cus-tomer list of DynAir reads like a“Who’s Who” of aviation. The refer-ences run throughout the alphabet:from A (Aeroflot, Air France, Amer-ican), to B (Balair, British Airways,Britannia), to C (Cathay Pacific,

Canadian, China Airlines) on up to V(Varig, Vasp, Virgin Atlantic), andending at W (Western Pacific, WorldAirlines).

Eventful historyDynAir was founded in 1967 – at thattime under the name of Servair – asan aircraft cleaning company, operat-

SWISSPORT WORLDWIDE ■ Swissport becomes a global ground-handling service

provider by purchasing the American DynAir ground services group

A perfect match!With the acquisition of the DynAirground services group, the number-two ground handling provider inthe North American market, Swiss-port International now offers aworldwide service network, newproducts and global contracts to itscustomers.

DynAir staff like the idea of being associated with a partner with such extensive experience of the ground handling business.

International customer journal

Swissport International Ltd.Issue 3

November 1999

10–11

Karl-HeinzNeumeisterATC in Europe is ina state of chaos andmismanagement.

1–5

Pat DeasyThe President ofDynAir says: wewould also havechosen Swissport.

6

Stephan BeerliAfter the merger itis vital that weexploit the avail-able synergies.

15

Joseph In AlbonSwissport has beenpromoted tothe league of globalplayers.

ing at various stations on the U.S.westand east coasts, as well as at U.S. airbases. From these beginnings the firstactivities as a ground handling servicedeveloped in Alaska, for passengersof Japan Airlines and Pan American.The big leap forward came in 1974with the licence for JFK Airport inNew York. In a single year the rev-enue soared from USD 2 to 14 mil-lion. Alitalia, Lufthansa, Aer Lingusand Swissair were the first customers.

Swissport – DynAir:the best of both worldsPat Deasy, CEO of the DynAirground services group, is proud of thecompany’s achievements. “Our activ-ities and the full scope of our servicesand products have always beenfocused on customer satisfaction.”

handling, to offer the customer a clearconcept of excellence, integrity, part-nership, innovation, empowermentand fulfilment. And we also want tooffer our employees a motivatingworking environment.”

Happy bride –proud bridegroomThe CEO is convinced that the wed-ding of Swissport and DynAir is not

only an ideal match, but a true loveaffair. “We both share the same highnotions of quality,” says Mr. Deasy,taking pride in pointing out that lastyear DynAir achieved an overall on-time performance of 99.8%.“We, too,would have chosen Swissport as apartner,”he continues and closes witha convincing smile:“We match Swiss-port.” The acquisition by Swissportalso gives DynAir a strategic oppor-

2 Swissreporter – The Swissport customer journal ■ November 1999

S W I S S P O R T W O R L D W I D E

M A R K E T I N G A N D B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T

Good cross-fertilisation

Swissreporter: How do you feel aboutthe changeover from DynAir to Swiss-port?Ivey: “Excellent! Many people nowwith Swissport are known to us per-sonally since they were colleagues inthe days of Swissair. Swissair has beena major customer of DynAir since1974.The new alliance is a great oppor-tunity for both companies. As far ascorporate philosophy, commitment toquality and business ethics are con-cerned, we make a really good team.

Aren’t there any uncertainties whichcould result from the change?“No, there aren’t.We always wanted tobe a global player, but the former own-

ers did not have the resources necessary to finance such development. Thenew situation gives us the opportunity to attain that objective. In the future,there will be only two,or at the most three,ground service companies world-wide. Anticipating this development, Swissport constitutes an ideal part-ner.”

What has your initial impression been under the new ownership?A very positive one!

What kind of marketing benefits can one expect from this new structure?From now on, the customer will need to talk to one partner only rather thanto many. Our airline customers will also profit from the new situationthrough our worldwide umbrella incentive programmes.

Are there any new products in the pipeline?At DynAir we are doing a lot of things which are not being offered inEurope. I am thinking of fuelling, airline maintenance, call centres and arepair service for in-flight telephone and video systems. On the otherhand, Swissport possesses more expertise in the best management tech-niques, such as IT technologies, DCS and other kinds of systems which wecould also use here to increase our profitability.

DynAir Inc.’s management team at the head office in Washington D.C. (from left): Robert Azzam, Controller; Milly Dedekind, Executive Vice President Operations & PresidentAir Carrier Services; Tom Comeau, President DynAir Fueling; Pat Deasy, President & CEO DynAir; Tony Ivey, Senior Vice President Marketing & Business Development and Bill Rodriguez, Vice President Human Resources. Not pictured: John Saunders, Vice President Finance and Joe Drago, Vice President Property.

Deasy smiles, and adds: “There was atime when we ran a hotel for pets inAnchorage, because the animals hadto take a rest after the long flight.”Another sector that one does notexpect to be covered by a ground han-dler is fueling. For this activity,DynAir founded a separate company,DynAir Fueling Inc. “Our competi-tors do not usually offer aircraft main-tenance,” he explains, but DynAir isalso active in this field. A repair ser-vice for in-flight telephone and videosystems is also provided. Pat Deasycontinues to explain the ambitiousphilosophy of the company: “Underthe motto ‘Setting the Pace for theIndustry’ we have defined our visionsand our values in all areas of our busi-ness. We want to be a leading globalprovider of quality service in ground

Ramp staff at Washington’s Dulles International Airport: consistently positive motivationthanks to positive signals regarding the acquisition.

Anthony D. Ivey, Senior Vice President,Marketing and Business Development

tunity to become a global player. Wecould not have achieved this by our-selves, neither from our financialpotential nor from our humanresources. The acquisition by Swiss-port offered an ideal way of meetingour own objectives”. Talking to theDynAir management team and tomany staff members, an unaffected,genuine enthusiasm for the new con-stellation can be clearly felt. “In ourcorporate history there have beenvarious owners. Swissport with itsexpertise and its synergy provides agreater challenge for us than any wewould have from a group of share-holders only interested in figures,”says one top manager. All thoseinterviewed appreciate that the un-compromising standards of excel-lence are shared. DynAir has activelypromoted Total Quality Managementfor more than ten years. Now Swiss-port will undertake a big effort tohave its ISO 9002 quality certificationsuccessfully implemented on a world-wide scale.

The Swissport customer journal ■ November 1999 – Swissreporter 3


Exploit the best mutualpractice!“We bring experience and a trackrecord, having successfully competedagainst the biggest companies here inthe USA. Swissport’s dowry is exper-tise gained from its rather closedEuropean markets and its excellentmanagement practices,” says PatDeasy, who adds: “The transfer ofknow-how will bring significantadvantages to all our customers.”Thekey words are ‘best practice’! Forweeks teams from both companieshave been working intensively toanalyse ‘best practice’ in variousfields and to translate the results forthe benefit of the 322 customer air-lines. The expected synergies willencompass all activities: “This best ofboth worlds,” comments the CEO ofDynAir,“will certainly increase over-all performance and thereby raisecustomer satisfaction to new levels.”Combined purchasing in all areas willreduce overheads, and joint market-ing and sales efforts will bring thecustomer tangible savings throughmultipoint contracts in what is now aglobal network. The introduction ofnew products and services can also beexpected. “Jointly, we now have14 300 dedicated employees at 103airports around the world. Everybusiness which has commercial prom-ise that one can think of in the world of aviation, and which wouldoffer a challenge to us as a company

committed to quality, would also beconceivable to me as a new businessventure.”

Christian P. SomogyiPhotos: August Kehl

O P E R AT I O N S

“I know what customersexpect from us!”

“From the operational side,I knowwhat customers expect from us.That’s why I think the alliance ofSwissport and DynAir offers agreat opportunity. For us as well asfor our customers. To be linked toa company in the same line ofbusiness which is itself associatedwith a renowned airline will en-gender even greater strength forDynAir. In our line of businessSwissport enjoys an excellentreputation for quality. And ourcustomers demand nothing lessthan a top-quality service wher-ever they travel in the world.Swiss-port and DynAir together can pro-vide such a service. We will alsolearn many things from each otherand will be able to identify the bestof such knowledge with an openmind. This will enable us to con-tinuously enhance the services weprovide for our airline customersand to achieve our objective ofbeing a global leader in the provi-sion of ground handling services!”

Milly Dedekind, Executive VicePresident Operations DynAir andPresident Air Carrier Services Inc.

C U S T O M E R V O I C E

“They do a fine, steady job;very dependable.”

“The local DynAir staff here inWashington D.C. have a keen senseof responsibility and react promptlyto any of our requirements. I havemyself worked in the airlineindustry since 1974 and have longexperience with ground handlingagents worldwide. The DynAiroperation out in Dulles is just ex-cellent! They not only know allabout how we operate, but they fitinto our operation just as if theywere our own employees. In addi-tion to our own staff, we some-times have to allocate ten or moreDynAir personnel to check-in.What is it that I appreciate most ofall? It’s that DynAir is very pro-active! They don’t wait until wecall them.The DynAir people dis-cover an issue and bring it to ourattention. Then they try imme-diately to act and to give us alter-natives. I like that, and ANA likesthat, too.”

John E. Senter, Supervisor, Air-port Security and Operations,All Nippon Airways, Dulles Inter-national Airport, Washington

DynAir staff at Washington’s Dulles International Airport handle passenger service dutiesfor various customer airlines.

P O R T R A I T

Erich Bodenmann goes west!ated as a joint venture by Swissair,Lufthansa and Guinness Peat Avia-tion. At the same time he was alsothe head of the Planning and Engi-neering Division. Before returningto the SAirGroup, specifically toSwissport in March 1998, he workedfor four years as a member of themanagement of the Pilatus AircraftCompany. Besides his present func-tion as Director of the Ramp &Baggage Services of Swissport ZurichAG, he is currently also responsiblefor the newly-installed luggage sys-tem.What drew him to his new job?Erich Bodenmann:“I wanted to takeup the challenge of overall responsi-bility for this company.”This 44-year-old thoroughbred airline man willmove to Washington with his wifeand his two sons. His family is look-ing forward to their new home justas eagerly as he is. They alreadyspeak English at home, so theyexpect to have little difficulty insettling in.

CPS

As of January 2000, Erich Boden-mann will take over the manage-ment of DynAir Inc. A graduate

engineer of the Swiss Federal Insti-tute of Technology (ETH),he joinedSwissair Technics in 1987, where helast occupied the position of managerfor the entire air carrier mainte-nance division. From 1989 to 1994he built up all the buildings andinfrastructure for the new aircraftmaintenance base in Shannon,oper-

the safety aspect!” says Bob Brown,going on to explain that last yearthere was not a single incident ofdamage to any one of the 60 000aircraft serviced by his teams.

From cargo to call centreWhat kind of operations are carriedout by the other subsidiaries of AirCarrier Services?● San Antonio,Texas: 174 employees

operate the reservations centre forMexicana Airlines.

● Denver, Colorado: 29 employeesprovide skycap and passengerassistance services for Delta AirLines.

● New York, JFK Airport: sevenstaff members provide passengerservices for Avianca Airlines.

● Spokane, Washington: 20 AirCarrier Services employees areengaged in underwing and cargoactivities for Delta Air Lines.

● Phoenix, Arizona: 10 employeesprovide cargo service for DeltaAir Lines.

● Pasco, Washington: 15 employeesperform underwing and cargo ac-tivities for Delta Air Lines.

● Miami, Florida: three employeesprovide the passenger service forAvianca Airlines.




AIR CARRIER SERVICES INC., SALT LAKE CITY ■ A wide range of services

Satisfaction guaranteed

ries great weight, as the passengercabin, which is spick-and-span, be-comes the airline’s calling card.

“We perform to ensurecustomer satisfaction!” But still, we asked the Director ofOperations, doesn’t having a singlecustomer also make the companyvery vulnerable? Bob Brown (with asmile on his face) replies: “We per-form so as to ensure the satisfactionof our customer! In spite of the strictdemands and the often very difficultcircumstances, we achieved an on-time performance of 99.8% last year.This was in spite of the fact that thetimeframes for the cleaning crewswere extremely tight. During peakhours there are 26 flights arriving at

the gates at the same time. They allhave to be serviced by the 11 cleaningcrews. They take care of cabin clean-ing, lavatory service and the provisionof all non-food items. Cleaning air-planes,” he sums up,“is not technical-ly difficult, but dispatching and cor-rect time-scheduling require a highdegree of professionalism.” On theramp tower an Air Carrier Servicesemployee works permanently along-side the Delta dispatchers. From thisposition, high above the tarmac, wecan see for ourselves how the clean-ing crews are directed to the variousaircraft. Bob is proud not only toregularly beat the time limits, but alsoto exceed the quality standards of hisclients. “In spite of tight operationalschedules, we give pride of place to


“They do an excellent job!”

“At our base Delta Air Lines has adaily frequency of 150 incomingflights arriving in six time sequenceswith seven aircraft types. Some-times, it’s really challenging. Weare permanently assessing clean-liness standards and we get positivefeedback. Any delays? So far thismonth only one. We run a goodoperation and have a great crew! Ifwe have to deal with delayedflights, especially in winter, andhave to make up for time lost, wecan always count on the co-opera-tion of the Air Carrier staff. It’s areally good working relationship!”

Roger E. Hock, Supervisor Air-port Services, Delta Air Lines, SaltLake City

With a staff of 469 persons AirCarrier Services provides a widerange of services from eight sta-tions in the USA. Swissreportervisited the company, a subsidiaryof DynAir, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A C RY S TA L - C L E A R autumnmorning welcomes us in the Salt LakeValley (approximately 4 800 feetabove sea level). There Robert T.Brown, Director of Operations of AirCarrier Services Inc., meets us at theSalt Lake City Crystal Motel.We takea drive to the airport, where theoffices and the warehouse of Air Car-rier Services Inc. are housed in animpressive hangar.

Clean aircraft: an impressive calling card!In Salt Lake City Air Carrier ServiceInc. exclusively provides aircraftcleaning for its sole customer, DeltaAir Lines. This activity, we soonlearned, is not to be underestimated.This particular contract started in1992 with the provision of overnightinterior cabin cleaning for five Deltaaircraft. Because of excellent perfor-mance the contract was expanded in1993 to include, as Bob Brown pointsout proudly,“cabin cleaning and lava-tory servicing on all Delta flights.”Today, 211 personnel clean 156 air-craft daily, working around the clock.This is equivalent to a total of 60 000planes per annum. For Delta AirLines, Salt Lake City is, after Atlantaand Cincinnati, the third-largest hubin the USA. Correspondingly, thecontract with Air Carrier Service car-

Robert T. Brown, Director of Operations of Air Carrier Services, Salt Lake City Inter-national Airport: “We perform to ensure the satisfaction of our customer!”

60 000 aircraft per annum! One of 11 cleaning crews, consisting of Air Carrier Services personnel, who provide cleaning andlavatory servicing to 156 Delta aircraft daily. Working around the clock!

112 airlines, over 61 million pas-sengers and two million tonnes ofcargo per year make Los Angeles(LAX) one of the world’s biggestairports. It is also one of the larg-est of the total of 55 DynAir sta-tions in the USA. Swissreportervisited DynAir in Los Angeles andtalked to some of its customers.

D Y N A I R I N Los Angeles isstaffed with roughly 700 personnelwho provide a complete range ofground handling services for 6 000 air-craft and 400 000 passengers annually.This includes passenger, ramp andcleaning services, as well as line main-tenance, A-checks and warehousing.The contract portfolio includes bignames such as Qantas, Air France,China Airlines and Aeromexico. InL.A. DynAir is one of the Big Threeground handling providers. In spite of

all this, Kenneth E. Hodges, DynAir’sVice President Western Region, takesa very positive view of the acquisitionof DynAir by Swissport: “We re-ceived the news with a great deal ofpleasure,” he comments emphatically.Hodges also told Swissreporter thatthe whole airport community in L.A.reacted positively to the new situa-tion.“Now we can offer our clients allthe benefits of a large internationalcompany,”explains Michael F.Braney,Vice President Business Develop-ment, “nationwide as well as on aglobal scale.” Rudy Barba, GeneralManager Ramp Operations, is also



DYNAIR IN LOS ANGELES ■ 6 000 aircraft and 400 000 passengers annually

Ready for future growth!

convinced about the new deal:“We,asDynAir, have built up a very goodreputation which will be greatly rein-forced by Swissport and the name ofSwissair which stands behind it.”

Exchange of resourcesand know-howJosephine Villarreal,General ManagerPassenger Services, who heads a crewof 185 staff working exclusively in thissector, is convinced that the new pos-sibilities inherent in the exchange ofresources and know-how are potentweapons in the fight for market share.This is America: no fear of becoming


High-level service!

“DynAir handles our baggageservice, our loading and unload-ing and our cabin cleaning. Ifshortcomings are observed – andmistakes can happen anywhereand at any time – we can be surethat they are corrected the verynext day. The management, too, isvery cooperative and respondspromptly to our needs. We arehappy with them, they are doing avery good job.”

Johnny Chang, Station Manager,China Airlines, Tom Bradley In-ternational Terminal, Los Angeles


We can count on DynAir24 hours a day!

80 well motivated DynAir person-nel are employed for the passen-ger services of Aeromexico. Intheir Aeromexico uniforms, theyare important representativesof the airline’s image. Here, ap-pearance and performance are ob-viously scrutinised. All the greater,therefore, is the compliment of theStation Manager of DynAir’s mostimportant client in L.A. “I’mextremely pleased with DynAirservices,” says Mr. Trujillo. “Therehas never been a time when I havenot been able to get hold of a person responsible to takecare of my needs, on a 24-hourbasis, including weekends andholidays. Always! The same holdstrue for my superiors, the RegionalHeadquarters in Houston and the Corporate Headquarters inMexico City,” Don Francisco goeson to say.“They are just as pleasedas I am with the way the contractin Los Angeles is fulfilled.”

Don Francisco Trujillo, AirportManager, Aeromexico, Los Ange-les International Airport

too large,no fear of amalgamations ormergers. People talk instead aboutopportunities and the possibility inthe future of working better,faster,andin markets further afield. 170 techni-cians are employed in the AircraftMaintenance sector. Vice PresidentHasnain Ansari would like to extendthe service offered by Swissport.“There’s great potential there,” hesays, before pointing out that he, too,is very well aware of the achieve-ments of SR Technics. He expects tofind possible synergies within theSAirGroup. Administration ManagerDion Fatafehi foresees “a brightfuture” and welcomes an extensiveand speedy transfer of knowledge.

A lot of fresh ideas!We meet Training Manager LesterScott Virgil as he drives in his safetycar over the tarmac from one DynAirteam to another, carefully checkingthat all instructions are faithfullyfollowed. He trains 10 to 16 new staffmembers weekly to equip them toimplement the rules and regulationsestablished by the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA), LAX Air-port, IATA and other aviationauthorities. His brief comment sumsup the new situation: “It’s always agood thing when two companies com-bine. It will generate a lot of freshideas!”


Ramp, passenger and cleaning services as well as line maintenance, A-check andwarehousing: the 700 DynAir staff in Los Angeles provide a complete range of groundhandling services.

Important representatives of the airline’s image: 80 well-motivated DynAir personnel areemployed solely to handle passenger services for Aeromexico.

No matter how happy one feelsabout a successful acquisition, themoment of truth inevitably follows.

AFTER THE MERGER, realisedfollowing the due diligence procedurethat was carried out by the renownedmanagement consulting firm of Price-waterhouseCoopers (see also theabove article), it is now vital, in thissecond phase, that we exploit the syn-ergies expected and the other associ-ated potential. The acquisition willincidentally increase the turnover ofthe Swissport handling locations, butits primary objective is to derive fullbenefit from the potential inherent insuch expansion. Since September ofthis year eight combined groups,advised by McKinsey ManagementConsultants, have been delegated toWashington D.C.Their objectives areto analyse the potential for cuttingoverhead and to define new revenue

sources. The team is currently work-ing on an agenda which includes thefollowing subjects: Organisation,Operational aspects, Sales and mar-keting, Business development, Supplymanagement, Finance, IT, Humanresources and Communication. Fol-lowing a key meeting, the teams willwork through various subjects withtopics such as in-depth analysis,detailed on-the-spot research, pri-ority definition, formulating targetplans, preparation of feasibilitystudies, time schedules, deadlineplanning, consideration of alternativescenarios, development of introduc-tory programmes and many otheritems. Starting at the end of October,and continuing through Novemberand December, a steering committeewill check whether progress towardsthe targets is being achieved, in bothquantity and quality terms.

Focus on value creationand not integrationalone!This professional approach shouldmake it possible by the year 2001 toachieve a substantial increase in rev-enues and/or savings potential. Toreach this objective, the followingsteps will be of prime importance:

● To build and extend a globalcustomer portfolio throughout thecombined system;

● To realise the targeted/budgetedEBIT improvements;

● To incorporate the better of twomethods in the combinedcompany;

● To create a winning spirit amongour highly-motivated anddedicated staff, instilling a can-domentality.

The fact that these ambitious targetsare already well known, that the proj-


I N S I D E

POST-MERGER ■ Integration is the second and the much more difficult phase of an acquisition

The first 100 days are decisive!

DUE DILIGENCE ■ The process is essentially the application of the “caveat emptor” maxim

How to buy a companyWith the recent acquisition of theDynAir ground services group,Swissport has made an ascent tothe peak. Let’s follow the acquisitionprocess behind-the-scenes, withparticular focus on the role of “duediligence” during the transaction.

SW ISSPORT ’ S KEY strategicobjective is to develop a worldwidenetwork of superior professionalground handling operations. In orderto achieve this goal Swissport formspartnerships and joint ventures withcarefully-chosen ground handlingcompanies and acquires selectedcompanies and operations in order toincreasingly fill the world map with itspresence. Once Swissport had clearlyidentified that acquisitions and jointventures were necessary in additionto organic growth to achieve its strate-gic objectives, the next stage was toidentify and evaluate suitable compa-nies which would fit into Swissport’sobjective of establishing a worldwidepresence.Swissport identified DynAirand obtained from Alpha Group, theformer shareholder of DynAir, theopportunity to perform a due dili-gence procedure and to submit a pur-chase offer for DynAir.

“Skeletons in the closet”?The due diligence process is essen-tially the application of the maxim of

caveat emptor, or let the buyerbeware, to enable Swissport to trulyidentify what it would be acquiring.Particular emphasis was given tounderstanding DynAir’s operationsand processes, its legal, tax, environ-mental and labour obligations,explain-ing the historical financial results, andidentifying any unwanted surprises.Internal experts from Swissportworked together with the financialand legal due diligence professionalsof PricewaterhouseCoopers and Baker& McKenzie.The specific expertise ofSwissport’s staff was especially

important in the process of determin-ing the synergies which could beachieved from the acquisition. Thereis enormous value in assembling sucha multi-disciplinary team, since theinsight gained into the target compa-ny provides valuable information forboth the price negotiations and thenthe post-acquisition implementationphase of the transaction.

Good decisions thanks togood advicePricewaterhouseCoopers was able toprovide financial, tax and risk man-

agement due diligence services andwas ideally placed to provide centralcoordination of this transatlantic proj-ect. Through their extensive networkthey were able to draw upon externalindustry and market specialists toprovide Swissport with seamless andintegrated acquisition services. Basedon the results of the due diligenceprocess, Swissport management thenhad to decide whether or not to pro-ceed with the acquisition and pre-sented the results to the steering com-mittee and the Board of Directorsof the SAirGroup. The deal wasapproved and the legal negotiationsadvanced to the completion phase ofthe deal, where issues such as pur-chase price and transfer of ownershipwere finalised. Once the contractswere signed, the real work of makingthe deal a success began: it’s now aquestion of achieving the synergiesand strategic objectives which origi-nally drove the deal.

René Rausenberger

Contact Box aus Nr.2

ect has been identified and that vari-ous staff are already actively involvedmeans that the second, and probablythe more difficult, phase of the acquisi-tion has already begun. If we canquickly achieve these ambitious goals,we can look ahead with confidenceand use our already vast experienceto create future forms of cooperation.Our mission is to have a worldwidepresence and to be identified as thebenchmark of ground handlingorganisations.

Stephan Beerli

C O N TA C T

Stephan Beerli, Vice PresidentMarketing & Sales,Swissport International Ltd.CH-8058 Zurich AirportPhone: +41 1 812 49 50Fax: +41 1 811 10 01E-mail: [email protected]

C O N TA C T

René Rausenberger, a partner ofPricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd.P. O. Box, CH-8035 ZurichPhone: +41 1 630 22 66E-mail:[email protected]


I N S I D E

SWISSPORT INTERNATIONAL ■ Who’s who in management

The contactpartners

Joseph In AlbonPresident and CEOSwissport InternationalPhone +41 1 812 27 79Fax +41 1 811 10 01E-mail: [email protected]

Contact forThe executive managements of thesubsidiary companies, existing andfuture partners, business develop-ment.Main responsibilities– Overall responsibility for Swiss-

port International– Creation of strategies– Development of projects– Acquisitions and post-merger

management.

Stephan BeerliVice PresidentMarketing & SalesPhone +41 1 812 49 50Fax +41 1 811 10 01E-mail: [email protected]

Contact forMarketing managers of all Swissportcompanies, joint-venture partnersand customer airlines in Switzerlandand abroad.Main responsibilities– Support in sales and contractual

issues (also multi-point agreements)– Preparation of management tools– Pricing and product definition– Communication, CD, CI– Post-merger activities.

Urs von EuwCIO and Vice President ITPhone +41 1 812 43 94Fax +41 1 811 10 02E-mail: [email protected]

Contact forInformation management and infor-mation technology issues.Main responsibilities– Information concepts and

IT systems– Conducting contract negotiations

with IT suppliers for worldwidelicences and products

– Guiding the business-to-ITalignment plan process

– Implementing state-of-the-artresource management systems forairport operations (new ITplatforms).

Peter SturzeneggerVice President Global Supply Mgmt.Phone +41 1 812 01 89Fax +41 1 811 10 02E-mail: [email protected]

Contact forLocal and int’l buyers as well as taskforce leader of new projects.Main responsibilities– Responsible worldwide for all pro-

curement-relevant questions andprocesses

– All processes in the value-creatingchain of procurement

– Post-merger activities– Contact with suppliers worldwide– Project management and coordi-

nation (reengineering programmes,cost savings and synergy potential).

Andreas BühlmannCFO and Vice President FinancePhone +41 1 812 42 55Fax +41 1 811 10 01E-mail: abuehlma@sairgroup. com

Contact forAll financial issues.Main responsibilities– Financial support and corporate

evaluation for acquisition projects– Annual financial statements– Business plan and budget process– Preparation of financial account-

ing data for monthly reporting– In-house consultant for various

projects of subsidiaries in Switzer-land and abroad

– Post-merger activities– Treasury and cash management– Taxation.

Stefan ReseleVice President OperationsPhone +41 1 812 75 93Fax +41 1 811 10 01E-mail: [email protected]

Contact forOperations managers and qualitymanagers of all Swissport Interna-tional companies as well as customerairlines outside Switzerland.Main responsibilities– Support of companies outside

Switzerland in all operating areas,including business plan creation

– Responsible for the operationalintegration of new subsidiaries (post-merger/acquisition management)

– Conclusion of ISO 9002certification, quality management.

Stefan Resele

Urs von Euw

Peter Sturzenegger

To simplify the process of making contact with the management ofSwissport International, we are pleased to present you with thefollowing listing of the company’s Executive Management, includingtheir direct functions and responsibilities.

Joseph In Albon Stephan Beerli

Andreas Bühlmann

w w w. s w i s s p o r t . c o m

Everything you always wanted to know about Swissport…

Around the clock and all over the globe, the www.swissport.com websiteoffers important and interesting data on ground handling.This informationis continuously updated. So call up Swissport’s homepage on a regularbasis for information about:• the worldwide Swissport network• latest openings of new stations• Swissport services and USPs• press releases• the Year 2000 issue• everything on ISO 9002 quality certification• facts and figures• partnership proposals• job opportunities• how to order documentation and offersand much more!

www. swissport.com gives you the ability to browse through the fascinatingworld of ground handling on the Internet!

Manaus

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Reno

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Oakland

Lima

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Recife

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Tulsa NashvilleGreenville

St. Louis

GrandRapids

TampaHouston

AustinBirmingham

San Antonio

Fort MyersBrownsvilleLaredo

El PasoDallas

Jackson

Oklahoma City

Phoenix

Las Vegas

San DiegoLos Angeles

Fortaleza

Brasilia

Natal


N E T W O R K

Some of the more than 300 customers served by Swissport International around the world

Adria AirwaysAer LingusAeroflotAir CanadaAir EngiadinaAir IndiaAir LankaAir LittoralAir MaltaAir MauritiusAir NostrumAir OneAir SeychellesAlitaliaAmerican AirlinesAOMAsiana AirlinesAustrian AirlinesAvioimpexBalair /CTABalkan Bulgarian AirlinesBase AirlinesBritish AirwaysBritish MidlandCathay PacificChina Airlines

Cie Corse MéditerrannéeCroatia AirlinesCrossairCyprus AirwaysCzech AirlinesDelta Air LinesEgyptairEl AlEmery WorldwideEmiratesEurowingsFinnairIberiaIcelandairJapan AirlinesJATKLMKorean AirKuwait AirwaysLauda AirLOTLufthansaLuxairMaersk AirMalaysia AirlinesMalev

MeridianaMexicana AirlinesMiddle East AirlinesOlympic AirwaysPakistan InternationalRegional AirlinesRoyal Air MarocRoyal JordanianSabenaSASSaudi Arabian AirlinesSingapore AirlinesSobelairSouth African AirwaysSwissairTaca International AirlinesTAP Air PortugalTatra AirThai AirwaysTower AirTransbrasilTunis AirTurkish AirlinesTyrolean AirwaysVASP

Nairobi

Manila

Cebu

Davao

Laoag

Khabarovsk

Johannesburg

Cairo

Cape Town

Durban

Tel Aviv

LondonAmsterdam Hamburg

Berlin

Düsseldorf

MontpellierToulouse

Marseille Nice

FrankfurtStuttgart

MunichZurich

Basel

Lyon Geneva

Cagliari

Trabzon

Adana

Ankara

CorluIstanbul

Izmir

BodrumDalaman

Antalya


N E T W O R K

K E Y F I G U R E S

Number of stations 103Number of customers 322Number of employees 14 300Revenue (USD) 625 000 000Passengers handled per year 53 000 000Aircraft handled per year 958 000

In Brussels, Swissreporter editorChristian P. Somogyi interviewedthe Secretary General of the Asso-ciation of European Airlines, Karl-Heinz Neumeister and asked himto comment on the critical situationof air traffic control in Europe.

Swissreporter: Most airlines regardthe situation surrounding Europeanair traffic control and the resultantenormous delays as disastrous. Swiss-air alone assesses its monthly costsresulting directly from delays at 3.4million Swiss Francs. What’s theAEA’s opinion on this situation?

Karl-Heinz Neumeister: One justcan’t find the words that simply andplainly describe such a state of chaosand mismanagement. This situationbegan to build up in Europe ten yearsago. At that time we at the AEA hadalready spoken up in very plain termsthat separate air traffic control byindividual member countries won’tlead to anything at all. In Europe,frontiers have been broken down inmany sectors, but as far as air traffic isconcerned, frontiers and the sover-eign rights of states are still para-mount, just as they were in mediaevaltimes.

And nothing has been coordinateduntil now?

Very little! In the light of thispredicament, the CentralFlight Management Unithas been set up to intro-duce a kind of “slotshortage manage-ment”.This CFMUis an organisation

of Eurocontrol. It manages the slotsaccording to their availability at themoment of departure. Every day pas-sengers are experiencing the effectsof the slot shortage management sys-tem. Very often they are already onboard when the captain receives themessage that he has to wait half anhour for the next available slot thatclears his entire route. Such slotdelays – measured in minutes – haveincreased this year.By 150% in April,for instance. In the long run this situ-ation will become intolerable and willruin the reliability of our airlines.

Why can’t this situation be improvedpromptly?

Because countriesregard their air-space as sov-ereign andeachprefers tomake itsown rulesdistinctfromthose of itsneigh-bours.Thisproducesinterfaceproblemswhich reducethe ef-


A I R T R A F F I C C O N T R O L

INTERVIEW ■ With Karl-Heinz Neumeister, General Secretary, Association of European Airlines

Is there still hope forEuropean airspace?

So in upper airspace there’s no rea-son for bottlenecks?

That’s right. The upper airspace onlyhas bottlenecks because the ATCs ofthe individual nation states do not

coordinate with each other. WhenEurocontrol was created, it wasintended to be an institution to con-trol all the upper airspace in Europefrom three control centres:Karlsruhe,Maastricht and Shannon.

And why wasn’t this idea carriedout?

Perhaps it was because the Frenchmilitary found that Karlsruhe was sit-uated on the wrong side of the Rhine!People did not like the idea of havingto accept someone else meddling intheir own national airspace. That’swhy we have seen the step-by-stepreturn to national control.The badly-needed coordination was once againleft to member states. Eurocontrol isvery well aware of where the short-comings exist, but does not have theauthority to compel individual coun-

tries or their ATCs to changetheir systems or to

increase their capaci-ty for everybody’s

benefit.

The Americanmedia arenowadays

ficiency of the whole system.

“Eurocontrolis a tiger

without teeth.”


A I R T R A F F I C C O N T R O L

F O C U S O N

Swissair’s Mr. Punctuality:Daniel Weder

In Swissair’s Zurich OperationsCenter, Daniel Weder, Vice Presi-dent Operations Control, is con-fronted daily with one of his mostdifficult tasks:punctuality.By meansof clear, detailed computer chartshe demonstrates that Swissairachieved a very good record ofpunctuality during the previousthree years.“In early 1999 the systemdeteriorated, but, as the figuresprove,we are slowly but surely get-ting back on our feet.” Wederbelieves the main reason for thisdeterioration was the reorganisationof Swiss air corridors in Februaryof this year, which coincided withthe extreme snowfalls of last win-ter. “In addition,” explains Weder,“that reorganisation was badlyprepared.” Now, in Switzerland allthe parties concerned (representa-tives of the air traffic authorities,the military, airlines, general avia-tion and Swisscontrol) have cometogether in a concerted action toanalyse the situation and to find

ways and means for a quick solu-tion.“On a pan-European scale thebasic problem lies in the fact thatslot allocations made at the bian-nual IATA conferences are estab-lished without consideration ofwhat really happens on a givendeparture day!” In order to im-prove this situation, the CentralFlow Management Unit (CFMU)in Brussels coordinates flight dataand actually allocates slots as soonas a particular aircraft is ready fortakeoff. Daniel Weder feels thatreal improvements can only beachieved by concentrating theEuropean air traffic control activ-ities at three or four ATC centreswhich would share standardiseddata systems. “This would alsonecessitate an expanded integrat-ed network with shared access todata concerning airport manage-ment, ground handling and similarissues.”DanielWeder expects mar-kedly increased pressure on thedecision-makers to come from the major airline alliances: “Thesealliances could be the driving forceto bring about the changes we sourgently require!”

CPS

alerting passengers to the consider-able delays in European air traffic,which, in turn, lead to rerouting andsubsequent losses for the airlines.How badly does European air trafficcontrol compare with internationalstandards?

Compared with international stan-dards we really are going from bad toworse. But that doesn’t mean that the

U.S. is without its own problems.

What do you identify as the mainorigin of Europe’s problems?

The national monopolies in Europehave not found it necessary to copewith the enormous increase in air traf-fic. On the ground deregulation hasbeen rapid with airlines and airportsalike. Swissport itself is a very goodexample.But up in the air, everything is stillbusiness as usual! The need to adaptthe existing infrastructure to the newrequirements has been forgotten.Thecustomer profits from a wider rangeof flights and is certainly happy aboutcompetitive pricing policies arisingfrom deregulation, but while thepresent slot shortage managementpersists, prices will inevitably in-crease. This leads to a form of re-regulation where slot management

decides which airline is allowed to flywhen and to where.

Do you see any signs of improvement?

We have carefully analysed the situa-tion and have come to the conclusionthat voluntary cooperation amongthe member states of Eurocontrol orECAC will never be sufficient. Thesituation can be compared to the

Security Council of the UnitedNations. If powerful members don’twant something to happen, then itwon’t happen.And that’s our agenda,day after day. The issues are put onthe table, and are always shelved.

Can any positive act by the Euro-pean Community produce the neces-sary progress?That would be marvellous.A politicalsolution is urgently needed.We, in theEuropean Community, at least havethe opportunity to clear the regulatoryhurdle. However, this also involves atedious process. But in the end theremust be a decision that, if need be,can be legally enforced.

How long will the European airlinesbe prepared to accept their lossesuntil something effective happens onthe political scene?

The inefficiency in Europe has beenestimated at USD 4.5 billion per year,not only by ourselves, but also byECAC. But obviously, we are allchampions in dealing with pain.

Deregulation leads to more competi-tion. Isn’t it inevitable that the airtraffic control problem will be solvedby liberalisation? Wouldn’t air traf-fic control actually opt for that solu-tion?

It’s true that many from the telecom-munications, utilities and postal ser-vices sectors believe in a free market.That has functioned very well. It will also function well with the aircorridors. To realise these objectives,there is no other feasible mechanismthan that of the European Com-munity. The EC must endorse thissolution to its member states.

These problems call for an urgentsolution. What are the measures thathave been taken so far?

We have ensured that this subject hasbeen brought before the EC Councilof the Ministry of Transport. Thiscommittee has been instructed to sub-mit an analysis of how to improveATC efficiency this year.

What kind of solution do you antici-pate?

The legislative mechanism of the ECmust be put at the service of Euro-control.

When do you think the ATC situationin Europe will be consolidated toensure satisfactory efficiency?

Things will change only when crisis isat hand.As much as I wish for a rapid

improvement in the present situation,both for ourselves and for our pas-sengers, in one sense I would regret it.From experience I know that if thiswere to happen, everybody wouldreturn to a daily routine. Please, don’tget me wrong: I have long waited forthis crisis, because only then will themedia and the passengers and politi-cians start to do something about theproblem. I have reached the limit oftolerance. As I have mentioned, tenyears have already elapsed.Ten years!Before those responsible act, thesituation in air traffic control willhave to become unbearable. RomanoProdi, the new President of the Euro-pean Commission, pointed out in hisinaugural address to the EuropeanParliament that he intends to exercise

A E A – T H E A S S O C I AT I O N O F E U R O P E A N A I R L I N E S

The Association of European Airlines consists of 27 leading airlines, over2000 aircraft and 392 000 staff serving 265 million passengers per annum.Tobecome a member of the AEA, an airline has to have a certain size or bethe Number One carrier of a European country. Being partners in dialoguewith governments, and with the various civil aviation authorities organisedin ECAC, the association’s area of activity is mainly political in nature. Inits contacts with the European Commission, the AEA also plays therole of a lobbyist in the interests of the European airlines.Contact: Association of European Airlines, av. Louise 350, 1050 Brussels,tel. +32 2 639 89 89, fax +32 2 639 89 99, e-mail: [email protected]

“There is no bottleneck in the air.The airspace isn’t full, it is simply

mismanaged.”

“If in Europe oneflies from one

national airspaceto another, it's

often like leavinga four-lane

highway in orderto end up on acountry road.”

Real bottlenecks on the ground, for instance in ground handling, are cleared up muchmore efficiently than pseudo-bottlenecks in the air.


S A D F

Cape Town spring 2000Durban spring 2000Lima spring 2000Manila spring 2000

■ Swissport United Kingdom

Swissport now numberthree at LondonHeathrowSwissport has acquired the groundhandling operations of Aer Lingus atLondon’s Heathrow Airport, makingit the airport’s number-three groundhandler.Aer Lingus’s 1000 Heathrowground handling staff will transfer toSwissport along with a customer baseof some 25 airlines that includesSingapore Airlines, Japan Airlinesand various Qualiflyer Group mem-bers.

Joseph In Albon

■ Air Littoral Assistance:

Full handling servicesat five of France’s largestairports Air Littoral Assistance, a SwissportInternational subsidiary, has won therights to offer third-party ramp ser-vices at the airports in Marseille andNice. The company now offers fullhandling services at five of France’smajor airports: Nice, Marseille, Lyon,Toulouse and Montpellier.

Jean-Luc Payot

■ Swissport:

New company inGermanySwissport and Aviation Han-dling Services (AHS) are com-bining their handling activities

to create Germany’s largestindependent handling organisa-

tion. AHS, which is owned by theairlines LTU, Hapag-Lloyd andGermania, provides passenger hand-ling services at seven airports. With its associated company “aerogate”,

Swissport is currently oper-ating at six airports.

Until now Swiss-port’s main op-

eration was pro-viding han-dling servicesfor scheduledflights, where-as AHS wasmainly hand-ling chartertraffic.By com-

bining their ac-tivities the traffic

volume can bemore evenly spread

between the two com-panies, thus improving

cost efficiency. The new

company will operateunder the name ofSwissport Deutschland,offering its clients full mar-ket coverage from itseleven bases of Frank-furt, Munich, Düsseldorf,Berlin (Tegel,Tempelhofand Schönefeld), Stutt-gart, Hamburg, Cologne,Hanover and Leipzig. TheManaging Director of Swiss-port Deutschland will beThomas Neff.

Joseph In Albon

■ Comax:

Swissport introducesa new IT tool world-wideAny company like Swissportneeds IT instru-ments to ensureeffective commu-nication, to sup-port businessprocesses and toprovide an infor-mation management system. So Swis-sport managers were aware of thenecessity to equip their staff with themost advanced technology, allowingthem to efficiently carry out their dai-ly assignments.Swissport has used theLotus Notes solution for its corporatecommunications.This is an importantexisting platform for aiding furtherdevelopment. Atraxis AG and Ina-Log Informatik Management AGjointly developed the proposed solu-tion, which was also worked on by ateam composed of internal andexternal experts. This new IT toolconsists of a number of differentfunctions and programme sections:

Address Info System(Atraxis Office)A storage programme for any num-ber of customer addresses and con-tacts, categorised according to variousparameters.

Activity Info System(Atraxis Office)Enables access to activity folders.Activity records such as telephonememos, letters, fax messages ande-mails are prepared and monitoredin these folders.

Contract Management(Atraxis Contract)This module allows direct down-loading of contract models estab-lished in MS Word. Management andcost estimates can then be preparedusing the Lotus Notes database. Thiswill provide substantial data andinformation for each carrier.

S W I S S P O R T

Reporting SystemMonthly turnover figures and thequality standards for each station andeach carrier are recorded.Managementis supplied with continuously-updatedfigures from the entire Swissport world.

Latest NewsThis is the internal Swissport informa-tion board. All linked partners haveimmediate access to the latest news.

Comax is a centrally-processed data-base that allows all connected Swiss-port operations access to completeand up-to-the-minute data, guaran-teeing a high degree of corporatetransparency. This enables the com-panies to independently work withregularly updated data.

Rolf Scheiber([email protected])

■ Serlipsa Swissport S.A.:

Now active in LimaOne additional spot has just beenadded to the Swissport intercontinentalnetwork. Since the end of September1999,Swissport has also been active inLima, Peru, at Jorge Chavez Airport.This operation is the result of a 30%equity stake in Serlipsa, the localground-handling company in Lima.For the time being, the team of 104employees performs ramp handlingfor major customers such as Avianca,Aeromexico, Continental Airlines,Delta Air Lines, Copa, Challenger,Cielos de Peru, Saeta and Servivensa.

Dieter Altenburger

News and views from all over■ ISO 9002:

Swissport: soon to becertificated worldwideBy the end of spring 2000 Swissportwill have virtually completed ISO9002 certification. DynAir and Swiss-port South Africa are continuing toimplement the Total Quality Man-agement programme, which is to beexpanded further. The new aviationbases in Lima and Manila are aimingfor ISO certification early in 2000.Both quality assurance systems willallow us to continually define, moni-tor and guarantee quality and relia-bility.

Certificated stationsZurich certificated Oct. 1998Basel certificated Nov. 1998Geneva certificated Jan. 1999London certificated May 1999Israel certificated May 1999Recife certificated June 1999Salvador certificated June 1999Fortaleza certificated June 1999Puerto Rico certificated Nov. 1999Stuttgart certificated July 1999Düsseldorf certificated July 1999Hamburg certificated July 1999Berlin certificated July 1999Kenya certificated Aug. 1999São Paulo certificated Aug. 1999Rio de Janeiro certificated Aug. 1999Manaus certificated Aug. 1999Brasilia certificated Aug. 1999

Next to be certificated:Amsterdam Dec. 1999Lyon Feb. 2000Marseille Feb. 2000Montpellier Feb. 2000Nice Feb. 2000Toulouse Dec. 1999Johannesburg spring 2000


S A D F

the worldS W I S S P O R T

■ Swissport Basel

New towbarless tractorsand new stairwaysSwissport Basel has received threebrand-new pushback tractors. TheGoldhofer AST-3 is designed to pushback any aircraft up to the size of aBoeing 757. Version AST-2 takes anywide-bodied aircraft exceptthe Boeing 747. Itsunique technologyis revolutionisingthe pushback opera-tion: instead of hook-ing up a towbar tothe front wheel ofthe aircraft, the Goldhofer design lifts the front wheel with hydraulicpressure onto a little platform insidethe specially-designed truck. After ashort period of training the pushbackcan be performed by one personalone. The total investment came toapproximately 900 000 Swiss Francs.Swissport Basel also acquired fournew stairways, which have just beendelivered. These FMC stairs are evencapable of reaching the rear-enddoors of the A340. The maximumheight that can be reached is 5.80metres.

Georges Peter

■ Swissport Brazil

Latest addition to theequipment fleetSwissport Brazil has acquired the firstpushback tractor ever built in LatinAmerica with the capability topush the full range of widebody air-craft such as the Boeing 747-400,A340-300 and MD-11 when fullyloaded. The new AF4433 tractor wasdeveloped by Rucker EquipamentosIndustriais Ltda. in close cooperationwith Swissport and complies with thehighest international technologicalstandards.

Dieter Altenburger

■ Swissport Zurich

Smart:process reengineeringIn order to cope with rapid growthand yet still be able to handle fre-

quent bottlenecks, it will be neces-sary not only to create suitable newinfrastructures but also to simplifyand streamline internal processes.That is why the “Smart” businessreengineering project was introducedat Swissport Zurich a few months ago.Innovative and creative proceduresare employed to analyse existingprocesses and to define target objec-tives, among which consideration ofthe customers’ needs is pre-eminent.The newly-developed procedures willensure increased operational efficien-cy to enable Swissport to remain anattractive partner for its airline clientsin the new millennium. In attainingthis objective, Swissport was assistedby the management consultantsKnoepfel & Partner AG. The mostadvanced technologies, especially inthe field of mobile communications

and data transfer (wireless LANs),will be employed in the new process-es. Equally, great importance will begiven to the further development ofstaff training.

Bruno Riesen

■ Debut in Asia

Joint venture betweenMiascor and SwissportSwissport International Ltd. is nowestablished in Asia. In June of thisyear Swissport acquired 40% of Mias-cor Ground Handling Corporation inthe Philippines, formally launching itsfirst station in this part of the world.Miascor was first established in the1980s when the Philippine govern-ment initiated the merger of foursmall handling companies in Manila.The company has grown over theyears and has beenprovidingnot onlyground

handling (pas-

senger and ramp) services but alsocargo handling, warehousing, aircraftmaintenance and catering. Itsstrength is found in the quality of thededicated passenger service agentswho wear the uniform of the airlinethey serve. This ensures efficiency inthe airline’s products, high standardsof customer service and the projec-tion of the airline’s image. Ramp ser-vices are of the highest quality, being

provided by well-trained and experi-enced ramp personnel and by equip-ment operators supported by first-class ground services equipment,which averages 98% serviceability.Miascor today is the largest groundhandling service provider in thePhilippines, serving 42% of all foreignairlines’ flights in the country. Apart

from Manila, Miascor alsooperates in Cebu, Davaoand Laoag. It also pro-vides services at Clark incollaboration with Pacif-ic Jet Aviation Interna-tional and will soon beoperating in Subic. In

1997 management spun-off itsservice units, thus creating Miascor

Ground Handling Corporation toprovide passenger and ramp services,Miascor Logistics Corporation tohandle the cargo needs of the airlines,and Miascor Aircraft MaintenanceCorporation (Airmac) to meet theaircraft maintenance requirements ofits customers. Miascor Catering Cor-poration, a joint venture with Gate Gourmet,Malaysia Airlines and Kuwait Avia-tion Services,became operational thisyear.

René Sayo

M I A S C O R / S W I S S P O R T K E Y F I G U R E S ( 1 9 9 8 )

Revenue USD 7 million

Aircraft handled 7 589

Customer airlines served 22

Employees 1 180

Swissport Basel received three pushback tractors and four new stairways.

Swissport Brazil recently took delivery of the first pushback tractor ever built in Latin America.


S A D F

That is why Lufthansa requiresexacting quality standards fromits Geneva handling agent. Swiss-reporter interviewed Werner Rösch,the German carrier’s Station Mana-ger in Geneva.

Swissreporter: Mr. Rösch, how im-portant is Geneva to Lufthansa?

Werner Rösch: With 14 flights dailyand an annual throughput of 200 000passengers, Lufthansa considersGeneva to be a station of sizableimportance. Geneva and its inter-national organisations offer ademanding First Class and BusinessClass clientele and provide an essen-tial feeder function for our long-haulflights departing from Frankfurt andMunich.

It has been 40 years since Lufthansafirst landed in Geneva. You person-ally can look back on 30 years expe-rience at Geneva Airport. What haschanged for you during that time?

30 years ago we only had twoLufthansa flights daily from Genevato Frankfurt. We were a small nichecarrier at that time, handled by Swiss-air.Now we have achieved the fourth-largest market share in Geneva and

have become Swissport’s most impor-tant client.

So your handling agent has alwaysbeen Swissair, later Swissair GroundServices and now Swissport GenevaS.A. Could you identify any differ-ences between them?

We have always been satisfied with theground handling service that has beenprovided.However, for us as clients,anindependent Swissport Geneva S.A. isthe best of all possible developments.

In what sense?

Today, Swissport employees havemore freedom to make their owndecisions and are therefore muchmore customer-oriented.

Can you give us a concrete example?At the moment we have a big prob-lem with delays throughout Europeand in Geneva. Swissport personnelare very flexible and react promptlyto exceptional situations.

Are there also points to be criti-cised?

Not many! Perhaps it’s sometimesdifficult for the “old hands” to com-

pletely rid themselves of the oldSwissair mentality.

What do you mean by that?

I am thinking of air traffic irregulari-ties, where in the past a customer wasquickly re-routed via Zurich. The sit-uation today calls for abandoning oldhabits so as to achieve what is best forthe airline customer. I’m saying thisonly because you have asked for crit-icism.

Is everyone receptive to such criti-cism? How good is the response tosuch special requests?

Very receptive. We have excellentcooperation at all levels as well as aflexible response to our requests.

How do you see things inother sectors – passengerservice, for example?

Swissport helps us a lot onthe operational side, alsoon the apron. There weresome communication prob-lems between our captainsand the ramp staff. In fact,proficiency in English herein Geneva was initially notas good as in Zurich orelsewhere.Here,too,Swiss-port reacted promptly.Upon our suggestion theydecided to offer Englishlanguage courses to ramppersonnel and created a“Dedicated Ramp Team”for Lufthansa.

Recently, you renewed yourhandling contract until2001. This was certainlynot done without goodreason…

We are, as I’ve alreadysaid, very satisfied with the

performance of Swissport as ourground handling agent. What alsohelped us take this decision were thefavourable contractual terms onwhich the parties agreed.

Mr. Rösch, thank you very much forthis interview.

Interview and photos:Christian P. Somogyi


I M P R E S S U M

Published by:Swissport International Ltd. –an SAirServices company

Publisher:Stephan Beerli, Vice PresidentMarketing & Sales, SwissportInternational Ltd.E-mail: [email protected]

Editor-in-chief:Christian P. SomogyiE-mail: [email protected]

Contributors to this issue:Dieter AltenburgerStephan BeerliJoseph In AlbonJean-Luc PayotGeorges PeterRené RausenbergerBruno RiesenRené SayoRolf ScheiberChristian P. SomogyiAndrea Wehrli

Translations:Peter Bierwirth andSAirGroup Translations

Layout and art direction:Caroline Lipp, DAZ

Printing:DAZ, Druckerei Albisrieden AGZurich

Editorial and production office:CPS Communications, ZurichPhone: +41 1 260 65 22Fax: +41 1 260 65 24

Subscriptions:Free subscriptions are available formanagement personnel of airlinesand other selected companies.Please send your subscription regis-tration, together with your fulladdress, to the Swissreporter Infor-mation Desk.

Changes of address:Please send details of any change ofaddress (by returning your mailinglabel with the changes clearly indi-cated) and any other correspond-ence regarding subscriptions to theSwissreporter Information Desk,fax: +41 1 811 10 01.

Printed in Switzerland

© 1999 Swissport InternationalLtd., Zurich Airport, Switzerland

Swissreporter Information Desk:Phone: +41 1 812 49 54Fax: +41 1 811 10 01

Internet: www.swissport.com

LUFTHANSA ■ Contract extension for Swissport Geneva S.A.

“Geneva is absolutelyessential for us!”

Werner Rösch, Lufthansa Station Manager in Geneva: “You can’t make an omelette without break-ing eggs – anyone who works will make mistakes. But the overall performance of Swissport hasreached a high level of excellence and we are really very pleased with it.”


B E F O R E Y O U G O …

F R O M T H E T O P

Swissport: big and beautiful?This edition of Swissreporter contains detailed information about theacquisition of DynAir.This acquisition has allowed us to take a decisive steptowards expansion while giving us a partner whose notions of profession-alism, customer relations and awareness of the need for quality allow themto fit perfectly into our Swissport family. By end of 1999 Swissport’s world-wide stations will largely have completed certification to ISO 9002 standards.Meanwhile DynAir and Swissport South Africa are working on an extensiveTotal Quality Management (TQM) programme that is to be furtherexpanded.Both quality assurance systems will allow us to define,control andassure quality and reliability on a permanent basis.

Swissport – big and beautiful? Big, indeed, what with our presence on fourcontinents, in 17 countries and at some 100 destinations. When you add tothis our assumption of Aer Lingus’s Heathrow ground handling operationin the near future, our initial investments in Asian companies and ourfurther expansion in South America, it is clear that we have been promotedto the league of global players.

What do we mean by beautiful when we talk about ground handling? Forme it means the quality of service, reliability, and dedication to the needs ofour customers, all at a competitive price.We are able to reach this ambitiousobjective because of the quality of our personnel around the world, who aredetermined to give our customers nothing but the best, and thanks to ourhighly motivated managers who measure their personal success in terms ofcustomer satisfaction.

With these assets Swissport possesses all that is required to become truly“big and beautiful” in the ground handling business. And we shall nevergive up in our efforts to reach that goal.

Joseph In Albon, President & CEOSwissport International Ltd.

C O N TA C T S

Swissport in Switzerland

Head officeSwissport International Ltd., Joseph In Albon, President & CEO, P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich Air-

port, [email protected], tel.: +41 1 812 27 79, fax: +41 1 811 10 01, SITA: ZRHDISR

Swissport International Ltd., Stephan Beerli, Vice President Marketing & Sales, P.O. Box,

8058 Zurich Airport, [email protected], tel.: +41 1 812 49 50, fax: +41 1 811 10 01,

SITA: ZRHOXSR

Swissport International Ltd., Thomas Neff, Vice President Business Development, P.O. Box,

8058 Zurich Airport, [email protected], tel.: +41 1 812 27 24, fax: +41 1 811 10 01,

SITA: ZRHDISR(as of January 2000 CEO of Swissport Germany)

Swissport International Ltd., Andy Bühlmann, Vice President Finance, P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich

Airport, [email protected], tel.: +41 1 812 42 55, fax: +41 1 811 10 01, SITA: ZRHOXSR

Swissport International Ltd., Urs von Euw, Chief Information Officer, P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich

Airport, [email protected], tel.: + 41 1 812 43 94, fax: + 41 1 811 10 02, SITA: ZRHOXSR

Swissport International Ltd., Peter Sturzenegger, Vice President Global Supply Management,

P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich Airport, [email protected], tel: + 41 1 812 01 89, fax: + 41 1 811 10

02, SITA: ZRHDISR

Swissport International Ltd., Stefan Resele, Vice President Operations, P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich

Airport, [email protected], tel: + 41 1 812 75 93, fax: + 41 1 811 10 01, SITA: ZRHDISR

SwitzerlandSwissport Zürich AG, Willy Hallauer, President & CEO, P.O. Box, 8058 Zurich Airport,

[email protected], tel.: +41 1 812 61 70, fax: +41 1 812 91 95, SITA: ZRHKSSR

Swissport Genève SA, Ernst Hochuli, President & CEO, P.O. Box, 1215 Geneva Airport,

[email protected], tel.: +41 22 799 30 10, fax: +41 22 799 31 67, SITA: GVAOKSR

Swissport Basel AG, Georges Peter, President & CEO, P.O. Box, 4030 Basel Airport,

[email protected], tel.: +41 61 325 23 00, fax: +41 61 325 23 07, SITA: BSLKSSR

Swissport around the world

BrazilSwissport Brazil Ltda., Dieter Altenburger, President & CEO, Av. Vinte de Janeiro s/n,

Via de Serviço – Rua T/103, Ilha do Governador, 21941-570 Rio de Janeiro – RJ,

[email protected], tel.: +55 21 398 59 34, fax: +55 21 398 59 32, SITA: GIGKXSR

EgyptEAS Egyptian Aviation Services, Klaus Schmidt, General Manager, Cairo International Airport

Terminal 2, Arrival Hall,Cairo, tel.: +20 2 291 89 27, fax: +20 2 291 89 26

FranceAir Littoral Assistance, Marc Lemaître / Jean-Luc Payot, CEOs, Aéroport Nice Côte d’Azur,

Terminal T1-Bât. 4, 06281 Nice Cedex 3, [email protected], [email protected],

tel.: +33 4 93 21 82 50, fax: +33 4 93 21 82 51, SITA: NCEDSFU

Germanyaerogate (Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf, Hamburg), Werner Teubner/Hermann Delliehausen,

President & CEO, P.O. Box 231533, 85324 Munich Airport, [email protected],

[email protected], tel.: +49 89 9759 23 01, fax: +49 89 9759 20 06, SITA: MUCXG8X

aerogate (Frankfurt, Stuttgart), Hermann Delliehausen, President & CEO, P.O. Box 14, Terminal

2, 60549 Frankfurt, [email protected], tel.: +41 79 205 78 89, fax: +41 1 812 91 95, SITA:

ZRHKSSR

aerogate Munich, Werner Teubner / Roger Scheifele, President & CEO, P.O. Box 231533, 85324

Munich Airport, [email protected], [email protected], tel.: +49 89 9759 23 01,

fax: +49 89 9759 20 06, SITA: MUCXG8X

IsraelQ.A.S. – Quality Airport Services, Yossi Raviv, President & CEO, P.O. Box 136, Ben Gurion

International Airport 70100, [email protected], tel.: +972 3 973 11 91, fax: +972 3 973 03 65,

SITA: TLVKKCR

KenyaAirSide Ltd. / Swissport Kenya, Olav Everts, CEO, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Unit 2, P.O. Box 44549, Nairobi, [email protected], tel.: +254 2 82 20 20,

fax: +254 2 82 23 29, SITA: NBOKSSR

The NetherlandsDutchport vof, Jürg Schumacher, President & CEO, WTC-Schiphol Boulevard 181, 1118 BG Lucht-

haven Schiphol, [email protected], tel.: +31 20 405 94 01, fax: +31 20 405 94 30

PeruSerlipsa, Alfonso Garcia-Miro, CEO, Av. E. Faucett 4800, Callao,

[email protected], tel.: +51 1 484 01 11, fax: +51 1 574 23 00

The PhilippinesMiascor, Juan C. Paraiso III, President & CEO, 4th Floor, IPT Building, NAIA, Pasay City

1300, [email protected], tel.: +632 552 4033, fax: +632 552 4134, SITA: MNLAMXH

Puerto RicoSwissport Puerto Rico Inc., Jacques Delessert, President & CEO, 150 Carr. Sector Central,

Suite 14, L.M.M. International Airport, Carolina, P.R. 00979, [email protected], tel.: +1 787 791

48 28, fax: +1 787 791 30 95, SITA: SJUKKSR

South AfricaSwissport South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Armin Unternährer, CEO, P.O. Box 111, Johannesburg

International Airport 1627, [email protected] tel.: +27 11 928 85 27, fax: +27 11 928 85 47,

SITA: JNBOWXH

TurkeyHavas, Jean-Didier Savioz, President & CEO, Prof. Nurettin Öktem Sk.No.2, 80260 Sisli –

Istanbul, [email protected], tel.: +90 212 233 24 84, fax: +90 212 233 38 53, SITA:

ISTGMXH

United KingdomSwissport U.K. Ltd., Carl Grey, President & CEO, Room 2411, Terminal 2, Heathrow Airport

Hounslow, Middlesex, TW61HG, United Kingdom, [email protected], tel.: +44 181 754 91 22,

fax: +44 181 759 78 26, SITA: LHRKSSR

USADynAir Ground Services Group, Patrick G. Deasy, President, P.O. Box 16300, 300 West Service

Road, Washington, DC 20041-6300, [email protected], tel.: +703 742 43 01, fax: +703 742 43 21,

SITA: DCADYXH

We look local but we think Swissport.

Swissport provides world-class ground handling services to 322 airlines at over100 airports in 17 countries around the globe. The big difference is people who care – from landing to take-off! We invite you to contact us. Phone:+41 1 812 49 50, Fax: +41 1 811 10 01, [email protected], www.swissport.com

Philippines

Italy Israel Germany

Switzerland Kenya

Puerto Rico

NetherlandsSouth Africa Turkey

United States United KingdomRussia

France Brazil EgyptPeru

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