233-Ground Scene June 2010.pdf - dnata Singapore

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CORPORATE
Ground-Handling Global Meet
The 23rd IATA Ground Handling Council (IGHC) Annual Meeting, held from 16 to 19 May in San Diego, California, ranks as
one of the world’s leading forums for international ground handling executives. It brings together over 400 organisations, including
ground handlers, equipment suppliers and airlines worldwide.
Besides sharing and networking opportunities, the meetings addressed issues ranging from the use and development of the IATA
Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA), to airlines/airport security, impact of deregulation on ground handling, automation,
cost management and airside safety.
The event included an exhibition of the latest innovations from the ground handling and airport community in addition to highlyfocused
interactive workshops.
“This yearly event is a “must-do” priority for our CIAS Marketing Team to re-bond, and re-connect with our loyal clients. This is
also an occasion for Dnata International to meet customers, especially overlap accounts in a group setting, to update on its
expansion plans and to discuss future opportunities of working together”, said Mr Ray Teo (CIAS Vice President, Marketing &
Business Development).
Mr Ray Teo (CIAS Vice President, Marketing & Business
Development) (left) with Mr Rudi Kandhai (Director
Procurement International, Air France - KLM).
This yearly event is a
“must-do” priority for our
CIAS Marketing Team to re-bond,
and re-connect with our
loyal clients.
From left: Ms Wendy Kua (CIAS Assistant Manager, Marketing & Business Development);
Mr John J. Itz (Manager System Ground Handling Operations and Agreements, Qatar
Airways); Ms Dyana Chua (CIAS Assistant Manager, Marketing & Business Development);
and Mr Ray Teo (CIAS Vice President, Marketing & Business Development).
Mr Peter Holmberg (Director, Agreements and
Quality, Finnair) with Wendy.

Series on Station Managers
This series features Station Managers from our airline customers, giving us a deeper understanding of
what they do on a day-to-day basis as well as letting us know them a little better on a personal basis.
In this issue, we feature Mr Gilbert Chia from Emirates and Mr Hassan Othman from Qatar Airways.
Great-going Gilbert!
Quick thinking is one of the unique trademarks of Mr Gilbert Chia.
He recollects how his vast airline experience came in handy in February 2006,
when EK432 was aborted after a freak accident involving the blow-out of 12 main
wheel tyres.
“Amazingly, the aircraft managed to taxi on its own power to the turn off taxi-way
area,” he said. “All ground operations activities had to be performed at this area,
disembarking of passengers and the offloading of dead load.”
“Whilst all these activities were in progress, I was in the company's apron-vehicle
facing the disabled plane, and quickly thinking of the next course of action.”
There were three other flights departing for Dubai that night. Gilbert then came up
with a proposal to his head office - have two of the flights operate with minimum
Cabin Crew in order to activate the departure of EK432. The original crew had to
step down due to their crew time limitation. His proposal was approved by the head
office and also duly executed.
“This quick thinking was a great relief as we were able to avoid night-stopping 280
passengers in Singapore, not knowing when we could disperse the passengers as
airlines were operating at high loads for the next few days,” he said.
Gilbert's veteran airline career started 45 years ago as a Traffic Clerk with Malaysian Airlines. In 1969, he became a Flight Steward
and then rose to be In-Flight Supervisor, before taking the position of Station Manager with Singapore Airlines in 1977.
After station-manager postings in Bahrain and Rome, he migrated to San Francisco in September 1987, where he started as Assistant
Passenger Services Manager at the San Francisco Airport. He returned in June 1990 and has since been with Emirates.
So what are some of the challenges in your position?
“Keeping abreast with the fast changes in aviation and always exceeding passengers’ high expectations,” he said with clear confidence
of his people-oriented role.
He thrives on the “comfortable work environment” at Emirates.
Mr Gilbert Chia, who believes that one should always
exceed passengers’ high expectations.
“A lot of time is spent at work, so why not create a comfortable environment in the office and within the airport vicinity?” he said,
emphasizing the “importance of networking with the airport communities”.
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Happy Hassan!
Mr Hassan Othman has a rousing work philosophy: Make someone’s day better!
Be it a fare-paying passenger or an internal customer, he gets immense satisfaction from the good deeds he is able to accomplish every
working day.
“The smiles I get keep me going,” said the Qatar Airways’ Airport Services Manager, who humbly started his airline career with United
Airlines in February 1989 in flight operations, covering flight dispatch/load control ramp/baggage and catering.
He looks back to the “comprehensive training programme, the knowledge and experience gained” at United Airlines which boosted his
work-confidence. And he realised that the key to success is making airport-clients happy.
He later worked for Yugoslav Airline as a Traffic Supervisor covering passenger
services and cargo operations. But with the war in Bosnia and subsequent sanctions
by the United Nations, the airline ceased its operation in Singapore.
“ But the biggest challenge
is to make someone’s day good,
be it the fare-paying
passenger or the internal
customer,” he said. “The self
satisfaction from the good deeds
keeps me going.
“
“I had to start from scratch again,” he said. “I joined then Air Lanka (now known
as SriLankan Airlines) as Airport Service Agent and later became the Airport
Service Manager.”
After close to 20 years in United Airlines and SriLankan Airlines, the move to Qatar Airways in January 2009 as its Airport Service
Manager for Singapore, was a blessing in disguise.
“The main challenge is to achieve all the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by management whilst balancing budgetary provision,”
he said.
“But the biggest challenge is to make someone’s day good, be it the fare-paying passenger or the internal customer,” he said. “The self
satisfaction from the good deeds keeps me going.”
His hobbies in travelling, trekking and playing soccer on weekends allow him to unwind from the hectic work routines.
“For relaxation, I watch movies, bowl or jog in the park,” he said, with a distinct twinkle in the eyes.
Making someone’s day better is what Mr Hassan
Othman does best.
CLIENTS
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Hallmark Interline Deal
From left: Mr Marnix Fruitema (Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, Air France - KLM); Ms Chong
Phit Lian (CEO, Jetstar Asia & Valuair); and Mr Paul Rombeek (General Manager Singapore,
Indonesia. Australia and New Zealand, Air France - KLM).
CLIENTS
History of sorts was made on 2 June when Air France, KLM and the Jetstar Group of Airlines (Jetstar, Jetstar Asia/Valuair and
Jetstar Pacific) entered into a landmark interline agreement.
It is the first interline agreement covering all Jetstar airlines as a group signed with a full service carrier outside its parent
company Qantas.
Now, Jetstar, Air France and KLM will form an interline partnership which will encompass all Jetstar ports, totalling almost 60
across the network, including 21 direct markets into Singapore, as well as Air France and KLM hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.
The combined network of
Air France and KLM as well as Jetstar
offers our customers unprecedented
and convenient flight connections
throughout East Asia, Australia
and New Zealand.
Mr Marnix Fruitema, Senior Vice
President, Asia Pacific, Air France KLM
said: "This is a strategic move towards
improving our product offering in this
fast-growing region. By joining forces
with Jetstar, we are offering more choice
in destinations between Europe and the
Asia Pacific.”
Jetstar hailed it as a win-win situation
to make travel easier for thousands of
global passengers.
Executive Manager (Commercial)
Mr David Koczkar said: “This partnership,
with one of Europe’s most established
carriers, will provide new opportunities
for customers to travel more easily to
the almost 60 destinations across the
Asia Pacific region that Jetstar serves,
including through our growing
Singapore hub.”
“It also supports Jetstar’s position as the
largest low cost carrier in Asia Pacific.”
“Importantly, I also expect that this
partnership will have a positive impact
on increasing accessibility for customers
within our domestic networks in Australia,
New Zealand and Vietnam, leading to
significant benefits for each of these
local tourism industries."
Mr Paul Rombeek, General Manager
Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and
New Zealand, Air France KLM said:
“The combined network of Air France and KLM as well as Jetstar offers our customers unprecedented and convenient flight
connections throughout East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The timing of this agreement is impeccable as Jetstar
grows its footprint in the region.”
Combined, Air France and KLM operate over 200 weekly flights to 22 Asian cities over 12 countries. Likewise, Jetstar operates
almost 2,000 weekly flights to 57 existing destinations with a fleet of over 60 aircraft across the Asia Pacific region.
CIAS congratulates Air France, KLM and the Jetstar Group of Airlines on this landmark signing.

Flight Info in A Flash
Faster information is the order of the day with the new web-based CIAS Flight Information System (FI). It replaced the long-standing
CIAS Flight Information on 15 March.
COMMITMENT
Users are now greeted with a clearer presentation and layout of flight information in a web-based environment. Flight details are received
real-time from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), which CIAS staff rely on to perform their operation duties.
Right on Safety
Flight related reports such as the Daily Flight Report (DFR)
can also be generated easily and can be stored as softcopies
or printed out when necessary.
A new system feature is the automatic triggering of
SMS alerts to the duty manager's handphone for lastminute
changes in aircraft parking bay. This ensures CIAS
staff are stationed at the correct parking bay before the
plane lands.
This new system will certainly help us in our drive towards
greater efficiency and higher productivity.
This article is contributed by Mr Dennis Siah, CIAS Systems
Analyst (Cargo Application).
Congratulations go out to Ms Tan Bee Lan (MUA), Mr Wang Baoyu (Butchery) and Ms Nancy Ng (CT Admin).
They are the lucky winners of movie tickets for the May Safety Quiz, organised by the Catering WSH Committee. The purpose
of the quiz was to raise awareness amongst staff members on safety aspects in the event of a fire.
The trio correctly answered two key questions:
Question:
Which button do you press when you discover
a fire?
Answer:
Look out for the manual call points in your workplace.
Question:
After you evacuate from the building, you should
close the door after you exit. True or False?
Answer:
True. This is to prevent smoke from entering the
escape staircase.
The three lucky winners of the May Safety Quiz.
CHECKING-IN@CIAS
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