In the aviation world, one hears of competition and disagreements in the skies, but in India, over the past year, an air-related battle has been steadily brewing -- on the ground.

Ground-handling is all the work on the ground relating passengers, cargo and aircraft. It involves passenger check-in, aircraft cleaning, aircraft handling, fuelling, baggage handling, cargo handling, boarding and disembarking passengers i.e. attaching the aero-bridge or ladder, etc. It does not include engineering functions, and catering.

Most passengers remain blissfully unaware of ground handling, since much of it happens out of sight, and is transparently to us, till there is a hiccup.

In India, most domestic airlines do the ground handling themselves also called "self handling", as they find it cheaper. Some foreign airlines with extensive operations to a given city, also do self-handling. Other airlines outsource the ground handling to either Air India or private companies like Cambata Aviation.

This has produced what I can best describe as an "organised zoo" at most Indian airports, especially the larger ones. As per the government, currently, more than 50 ground handling agencies, employing over 70,000 people, operate in India, which in many ways leads to chaos and congestion, especially at Mumbai and Delhi airports.

The duplication of equipment is enormous, as is the consumption of space used to store them when not in use, which is significant. The multitudes of companies and people involved, have also created a security nightmare in terms of administration.

To address these issues, in 2007, the Government of India laid down a new Ground Handling Policy (GHP). The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular dated September 28, 2007, and the Airports Authority of India issued a notification dated October 18, 2007 — to be effective January 1, 2009 that essentially said, airlines cannot employ their own staff for ground handling, nor can they engage any outside agency at the six major airports (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore), other than from a basket of those pre-selected by the airport operator. Simultaneously, the new policy also clarified that only domestic airlines can handle the ground services at the other smaller airports.

The idea was noble, and does make sense. The six major airports were to have selected two ground handling agencies, each, to provide services, using “competitive bidding to ensure that the best-equipped ground handling agency is selected.", but, as with any government initiative, it got lost in translation to policy, and flawed in implementation.

A taste of the "competitiveness" was given earlier this year, when the government had to back down from implementing this policy, after airlines boycotted India's first private Greenfield airport, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad, citing the exorbitant prices demanded by the private ground handling agents. The back-down affected the revenue plans of all airports, especially the privately operated ones at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

A government affidavit in a recent court case also gives us clues to some of the motives behind the new GHP. The affidavit admits that “upkeep, development and upgradation of the airport infrastructure require financial resources, which are to be raised from airport-related services such as ground handling. This ensures generation of income not only for the airport operator to maintain the infrastructure, but to ensure orderly growth and development of the airports.”

Another fundamental flaw is the inclusion of passenger facing services such as check-in in the ground handling policy. Check-in is a core customer service and product differentiation function for airlines. To expect airlines to exclude themselves from this critical function, is outright naive, and has expectedly, invited protests and non-cooperation from the airlines and their staff.

Another factor, and for this, one has to blame decades of left-leaning, communist hugging, Indian labour laws, that allow an organisation to hire a person, but never to fire. Government being the champion of these laws, and by extension all government controlled entities, have thus created a culture which tolerates unheard levels of incompetence, indifference, and sloth, in some cases bordering on criminal.

The state owned carrier, Air India, is also, one of the biggest ground handlers, but has formed a separate joint venture company Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AI-SATS) for ground handling. In most countries, one would logically expect a smooth transfer of employees to the new company and minimal disruption, but not in this case. After all, SATS has operational control, and will demand maximum productivity from these employees.

Naturally, incidences of union led disruptions have erupted over the last month, as the implementation date draws closer. A union called CAJAF (Civil Aviation Joint Action Front) has been protesting, disrupting ground operations, and in one totally deplorable incident, Air India staff, part of CAJAF, beat up the COO of SATS, Mr. Karamjit Singh .

Thanks to the inclusion of passenger check-in in to the GHP, and exclusion of foreign carrier, employee unions of of foreign carriers, Gulf Air, British Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines have challenged the notifications in court claiming this would lead to job losses for over 50,000 workers. Staff of other airlines are silently cheering them on.

I must congratulate the government on achieving the impossible. In one fell swoop, the policy has united domestic and international airlines, as well as trade unions in their wrath. While the employees fear the new policy will divest a staggering 15,000 people of their jobs, airlines fear that it will affect customer services.

A new approach to ground handling is critically required, but it needs to be done with cooperation and rational expectations from all sides. Everyone will have to compromise to reach an amicable solution, the question is will they ?

As usual your comments are requested.

On Friday, 20-June-2008, I took a flight out of BIAL airport. As my pictorial essay shows, the hard work, by the stake holders at BIAL, is showing results, in the form of significant improvements.

Getting to the airport
While the distance to the new airport is significant, I have always maintained that connectivity to the airport was not a major problem. I left Koramangala at 08:30am, driving my Hyundai i10. I was at the airport terminal by 09:45am.

Despite maintaining a comfortable pace, I encountered a hair raising experience with a pedestrian running across the highway. The many policeman on the road, were just bystanders, enjoying the life and death drama. I have voiced my concerns about a lack of pedestrian over-bridges in an earlier article (read article), and I am informed that there is on average 1 major accident or death everyday on the NH-7.

Arriving, check-in, and security
I was met at arrival by a very senior official of BIAL. I am deliberately keeping his name confidential, but I extend my thanks to him for all the courtesy.

While he went to the CISF security office to arrange an apron pass for me, I went ahead with check-in. Two of the departure doors were manned. The CISF guard checked my ID card (which CISF in Mumbai did not bother with, on my return leg). The check-in hall was quite empty and there was a small check-in queue. The folks at Kingfisher are very efficient. I did notice, that most airlines logged in to the CUTE terminals, and hence the stations displayed their airline, but did not staff them. I was informed that the morning peak period was over.

Met up with the BIAL official and we proceed up the escalator, and through the security check. CISF have implemented a past suggestion of mine to use 1 DFMD to service two physical check stations. We both expressed exasperation at the CISF insistence on using DFMDs, since there was a 100% physical check and frisk, which renders the DFMD check redundant. But then the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is not known at the sharpest knife in the already dull bureaucratic block.

Also, all the women's lines were on one side, and there were hardly any women. So while men were waiting, the CISF female lines and guards were sitting idle.

I have suggested to CISF in the past to have a mixed line for the women. i.e. one DFMD serving one female check station and one male station.

The Apron
After leaving my carry-on bag in the BIAL official's office, we went down to the departure baggage make-up area, and it was a hive of activity. It is still is capacity constrained, a weakness in BIAL capacity.

At the tarmac we could see all the vehicles buzzing around. The worst were the old, decrepit tractors of Jet Airways and Indigo. I was informed that these polluting tractors were not permitted inside the baggage area. So they bring the luggage trolleys till the building entrance and then the electric tugs take over. BIAL has imposed a July 31st deadline on removal of these smoke belchers. I can understand, why BIAL is upset at the airlines' insistence on doing their own handling. A lot of duplicated equipment was cluttered all around the tarmac lying mostly unused.

A major reason for week 1 chaos at BIAL
I also discovered one of the main causes of the chaos that plagued the airport during its first week of opening (which I subsequently confirmed through other sources at the airport). Apart from the un-preparedness of Globe Ground (GG) and AI-SATS, a major contributor was India's "largest airline". This airline did not sign-up with any of the ground handlers, and thought they would do it themselves. 24 hours before the airport opened they realised they would be unable to, and pressured one of the ground handling agents to do the handling. Net result, insufficient and untrained staff, major disruptions and heaps of misery on everyone.

The official had to go and welcome Kingfisher's first Airbus A330 VT-VJK (read story)which was arriving. So he escorted me to the elevator and soon I was back in the departure hall.

The Departure Hall
The departure lounge was fairly empty. With seating available. Restaurants and shops were buzzing. The restrooms are small, with acceptable cleanliness.

I chose to look around, and chat up with the airport staff, and ask them their opinions. They all felt that the airport is slowly coming around. It is still not a great place to work in, but significantly better then when it opened. Their daily commute of about 80km was the biggest source of displeasure, despite the free transport provided by their employers.

Most airlines are experiencing a steep drop in regional passenger traffic. Flights to Chennai and Hyderabad, which used to be packed, now carry only about 15~20 passengers. There was a sense of despondency.

The FIDs (Flight Information Displays) still need improvement. They are too small, forcing passengers to get really close to read.

And they are still only in English. No Kannada or Hindi.

Observe the speakers. If you recall, in my visit report before the airport opened, I commented about the microphones at each gate, that would provide localised boarding announcements. Boy, was I wrong. Every little detail of every flight is blared over the speakers. Coupled with the poor acoustics, it is not a pleasant experience. BIAL should force the use of the "local" gate announcements concept.

Many departing passengers took time to grab something to eat. The long trip from town, does make you hungry. The restaurants offers decent food, but other passengers told me that RGIA Hyderabad food was significantly superior.

The incoming flight was about 5 minutes late, and the aerobridge operators took some time to attach, but the Kingfisher staff rushed the Globe Ground staff through their aircraft turn around, and we were boarded and took off on time. A short taxi, and soon we were airborne.

The departure experience was good. Most of the issues have been addressed, corrected, and operations stabilised.

The Return
We landed without any delay. For some reason the aircraft was not exited on a rapid exit, and so we went for a long taxiway tour of the airport.

After parking at a remote bay, despite almost a month since the airport opened, the Globe Ground crew took several attempts to attach the truck mounted ladder. I thought they would have become proficient by now, but obviously they need more experience.

I was informed that airlines preferred remote bays to "contact" (aerobridge) gates, since the aerobridge operators took even longer to attach.

We were brought to the terminal in a combination of Ashok Leyland's version of the Cobus, operated by Globe Ground, and Vayu Vajra Volvos. Due to the layout and regulations of the apron, we had to take the royal tour. This also explains why the bags take about 15 minutes to come.

Baggage Claim
We arrived to see a cleaning machine busy cleaning the floors. The airport looked bright and like a shining jewel against the darkness of the night.

The baggage came within 5 minutes of our arriving at the terminal. Passengers collected their baggage and dispersed within 10 minutes of our arrival in to the terminal. Good show by Globe Ground and Kingfisher.

On the international side, things were not so good. This scene is when only the Singapore Airlines flight has landed. The main crush of European arrivals had not yet arrived. The bags were coming very slowly. Obviously the Customs X-Ray inspection of incoming bags was slowing things down.

After exiting the baggage claim hall, I walked across till the glass divider, and peeked in to the departure hall. Compared to my departure, it was quite full, with all the international passengers waiting to check in.

Exiting the terminal

On exiting the terminal, one is immediately confronted with the familiar line of drivers with the name placards waiting for their guests.

Private taxi drivers lurk like hungry wolves waiting to pounce on arriving passengers en-masse and offer "taxi" services. In the absence of any city police, the BIAL employees were powerless to prevent this predatory and unwelcome practice. I could not find a single policeman at the airport. Only CISF, and their authority stops at the terminal door.

There was a reasonable line of passengers waiting at the departure doors to enter the airport, and many passengers who apparently arrived early took the time to occupy the seating outside the terminal meant for visitors.

Others took to sitting on the concrete pillars and catch-up.

Cars were parked three deep on the drop off lanes, till the parking contractor's van came with its siren blaring forcing them to move.

Vayu Vajra and the Bus stand
I headed out to the Vayu Vajra stand, still being accosted by offers of "taxi service", and the bus stand stood out like a shining beacon. The bustle knocked the picture, my apologies.

An oasis of light in the desert of darkness from the bus stand. The BMTC bus drivers were very helpful, and there is schedule chart. I observed that there is an over abundance of service to Hebbal. Also there are only VV services to Hebbal, Electronics City and Kempegowda bus stand. No economical Suvarna service to these 3 destinations.

I just missed my VV back to Koramangala, and would have to wait another hour for the next service. So I trudged back to the terminal, and linked up with the AirLift folks. It was a slightly long walk to the P1 parking, past the bus stand, but I was soon in a comfy Toyota Innova, one of 50, and zipping back to town.

My fellow passengers were Major Kapoor (now retired and running a team building education service), and Dr. Balaji (an ENT surgeon and now a tele-medicine expert).

During the trip I sought their views. Like me, they both felt that BIAL has improved significantly, including bathrooms. They also felt that Hyderabad RGIA,was far superior to BIAL, in almost all aspects. Unlike RGIA, BIAL shows effects of cost cutting, which according to Major Kapoor makes "BIAL lack the 'feel good' factor of Hyderabad".

Conclusion
Comparisons aside, I am highly impressed by the improvements at BIAL. Without doubt, BIAL terminal is a superior product compared to the AAI terminal at HAL, and a facility Bangalore can be proud of. While there are areas, like ground handling and cargo, which require improvement, all the operations teams at BIAL and stake holders can be rightfully proud of their hard efforts, and its results at the airport.

The total crash in regional traffic is alarming, and it will behoove BIAL to consider operations at HAL, in a larger public interest. The Governments of India and Karnataka, should strongly consider letting BIAL and AAI continue their partnership, and together they can operate the terminal facilties at HAL airport, while letting the hyper-efficient HAL ATC operate the air traffic, giving Bangalore, the best of both worlds.

All images are my copyright. The web album is here.

ANIL BUDUR LULLA

Bangalore, June 14: The glitzy airport in India’s software capital that was to have been the takeoff point for the aviation growth story remains grounded in the present.

From “teething problems” like the long journey to the airport in Devanahalli, 50km from the city, the scanner has now shifted to its planning, which, airline sources said, has not been made with the future in mind.

International airlines have slammed the airport for the “flawed” design of the aerobridges — a sanitised corridor connecting the plane doors with the terminal building.

The new airport has eight aerobridges to handle 11.4 million passengers annually. In comparison, the new Hyderabad airport has 12 aerobridges for 12 million passengers. The new Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport has 66 aerobridges for handling 43 million passengers annually.

Only four of the eight aerobridges in Bangalore can service wide-bodied aircraft at a time, leaving the other four idle. If one wide-bodied aircraft is being serviced, the two aerobridges flanking it have to be left unused as the aircraft’s large wingspan prevents other planes from being parked close to it on either side.

Wide-bodied aircraft, such as the Airbus A330, A340 or the Boeing 747 or 777, have a wingspan of 60-75 metres compared with 28-34 metres for narrow-bodied planes like the A320 or Boeing 737. With an aerobridge every 45-50 metres, wide bodies occupy a major portion of the apron — the area where the planes are parked, loaded or unloaded, refuelled or boarded.

The airport has been built by a consortium led by Zurich Airports on a build-operate-and-transfer basis.

The consortium of Zurich Airports, Siemens and L&T hold 74 per cent stake, while the Karnataka government and Airports Authority of India hold 13 per cent each.

Albert Brunner, the chief executive officer of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), said it was not a design flaw but a plan to “optimise” the use of infrastructure.

“When a wide-bodied aircraft is parked, it takes the space of two narrow-bodied aircraft and, therefore, the aerobridge next to the parked wide-body aircraft cannot be used during this time. Kindly note that this does not mean that the aerobridges are not designed properly. It is an optimal and flexible use of the infrastructure. When only narrow- body aircraft are parked, all bridges are in use,” Brunner said in an email reply to a questionnaire from The Telegraph.

But airlines are not amused. A European airline, which operates only Airbus A-340s to Bangalore, was upset with the planning. “We understand that only four wide-bodied aircraft can be parked at a time. How can one call this an international airport? If you see the hubs around the world, they can accommodate up to 15-20 wide-bodied aircraft at any given time. It’s just that there should have been more space between the bridges to make optimal use of infrastructure,” said the airline’s area manager, who did not wish to be named.

With aviation registering phenomenal growth and seat demand surging, airlines across the world are opting for more wide-bodied aircraft. But the Bangalore airport, which cost over Rs 2,500 crore and took four years to build, is not designed to meet the demands of this growth.

Urban planner and architect K. Jaisim agreed that the new airport does not seem to have been planned for the future. “I really cannot say if the aerobridges have been planned that way by BIAL or there is a design flaw. I can only say that they should have designed them better to accommodate all types of planes as air traffic is only going to go up.”

Jaisim said he was surprised that this new-age international airport was designed like a huge railway station when the world over architects were moving away from the tradition of building the air side in a long and straight line.

The flat factory-like structure and the intricate alleys that arriving passengers are made to go through have led Jaisim to wonder whether its architects had been given a free hand to build what they had designed. “Or have they just shifted a rejected first world airport to the third world?” he said.

The airport has been equipped with eight aerobridges, one double-arm Y-shaped aerobridge that can reach out to two doors of an aircraft and nine remote bus gates.

But as international travellers are sanitised (security, immigration and customs checks are mandatory), security agencies prefer only aerobridge transfers for both arriving and departing passengers.

At present, Bangalore is connected by 14 international carriers and seven of them use wide-bodied aircraft. In the not-too-distant future, Air India, Kingfisher and Jet Airways plan daily non-stop flights to the US even as more European, US and Chinese carriers eye the new airport.

“In a way the aerobridge design is restricting us as every international flight has a turnaround time of anywhere between two to three hours. On an average, only 30 wide-bodied aircraft can be serviced through the day. But as most international flights depart in the wee hours, a limited number of aircraft can be serviced and at the same time it will block access for narrow-bodied aircraft operated by other international airlines,” said an airport source.

But CEO Brunner said that if all aircraft at a time are narrow bodied — like the A320 or Boeing 737 or even an Embraer 70-seater — all eight aerobridges can be used simultaneously.

The availability, or lack of it, of aerobridges has already put a strain on international operations. “Airlines waiting for the new airport to open and those that had plans to add to capacity from Bangalore are not amused,” said the representative of a southeast Asian airline. The slots they were looking at clashed with those of other airlines who fly wide-bodied aircraft, he explained.

He confirmed that the issue had been taken up with the Airports Authority of India as most international flights are slotted late at night and in the early hours. “I foresee an infrastructure crunch in a few months from now,” the official said.

Another irritant for the airlines is that though the airport has been cleared for the jumbo Airbus A380 to operate from its 60-metre-wide runway, the world’s largest commercial jet cannot be serviced from two levels as the airport lacks a double-deck aerobridge. Boeing’s Dreamliner will also have similar problems as the airport, unlike the one in Hyderabad, has not planned for these mega-seaters.

So, what’s the solution? Jaisim said an ideal design would be with curvatures or convex-type of structures which give operators more flexibility to think two decades ahead. “When I look at this airport, it lacks warmth and comfort. This is not a passenger-friendly airport. It does not leave a good first impression,” he said.

The second phase of the airport includes a mirror image of the existing terminal building, apron, taxiway and a second runway. “I hope they design it to cater to double-deck planes and plan a fast exit for passengers using aerobridges instead of the present cumbersome three-level exit,” Jaisim said.


Source : The Telegraph

Govt may not implement new ground-handling policy
BS Reporter / New Delhi June 05, 2008

The recent dispute between the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Indian carriers may make the government go back on its decision to implement the new ground-handling policy next year.

According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) has said that no domestic airline with a market share of below 25 per cent will be allowed to do its own ground-handling at the airport. This means that none of the Indian carriers will qualify for ground-handling. Because, even Jet Airways, the largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, commands a market share of only 21 per cent as per April 2008 figures.

BIAL has reportedly taken this stand despite the fact that the government had recently decided to allow domestic carriers to do their own ground-handling till the end of this year.

The BIAL issue was brought up today by Delhi-based low-cost carrier IndiGo, one of the airlines to be prevented by the airport authorities from ground-handling last week. According to civil aviation ministry sources, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain shot off a letter to BIAL yesterday, insisting the airport has to adhere to the government policy of allowing airlines to do ground-handling. In today's meeting with airport executives, including BIAL representatives, Chawla made it clear all airlines would have to be allowed to carry on with their own ground-handling till the end of this year.

When asked, a BIAL executive said, "BIAL has always maintained that having at least two professional ground-handlers not only makes for a competitive environment in terms of service quality and price, but also has a direct impact on the airside safety and security. However, post the meeting with the ministry today, BIAL supports the decision taken."

Industry sources said that with airlines reacting strongly to the new ground-handling policy, the government might take a second look at implementing it from next year.

"The ministry will look at whether self-handling is more economical for airlines than getting the same job done by external agencies. If yes, it might work towards letting the old policy of allowing airlines to do their own ground-handling continue," said a ministry official.

Under the new ground-handling policy to be implemented across all airports in the country from January 1, 2009, the airport operator or a joint venture company, subsidiaries of Air India or Indian Airlines, or their joint ventures, or any other ground-handling service provider selected through competitive bidding on a revenue-sharing basis will only be allowed to offer the services.

Airlines have been opposing the policy saying that outsourcing the work to an external agent will considerably increase their expenditure, pushing them further into the red.

As an interim measure to settle the problems of airport charges before the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is set up, the civil aviation ministry today announced the constitution of a 10-member committee comprising members of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), private airports and airlines. This was announced at a meeting held between the ministry, airline and airport executives to look into issues like price hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and high airport charges among others.

"The body will look at what can be done to ease the problems faced by the airlines due to high airport charges," said a ministry official.

A hearty congratulations to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad for finally getting operational. Similar congratulations are due to BIAL very soon.

An even heartier and resounding congratulations to the domestic airlines, for showing to RGIA management, what we individual consumers will be unable to -- even a monopolistic airport cannot expect to charge unreasonable fees.

The ground handling agents at RGIA, Menzies Aviation and Air India - Singapore Air Terminal Services (AI-SATS), who incidentally are the cargo handling agents at BIAL, wanted to charge airlines 200% of their present costs. Airlines are bleeding losses and rebelled at this move. They outright refused to operate to the new airport. The RGIA management quickly back-tracked and the Government of India allowed airlines to continue to do their own ground handling. Naturally, the royalties due from the two ground handling agents to RGIA, has been slashed from 25% to 5%.

For the airlines, deploying their aircraft to an alternate city is a viable option. There is enough demand across the country. The loss would have been felt by the average citizen of Hyderabad and the management of RGIA.

Airlines have threatened a similar action if BIAL imposes unreasonable charges on them. So the costs will have to be borne by you and me, the individual traveller.

Lest we forget, Menzies and AI-SATS are the cargo handling agents at BIAL. If they have a similar price hike planned for Bangalore, be ready to pay more for everything from computers to cell phones, to fruits.

As Edward R. Murrow put it -- "GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK"!!!!