Effective Staff Recruitment and Retention & More IGHC News. Also: Forward Booking Data Predicts A Busy Summer

Welcome back! This week we celebrate ISAGO's 15th birthday, take a look at air ticket sales for the upcoming summer season and recap the IGHC. Oh, and have you heard about the Ground Ops Training Passport? Let's get to it.

Get Ready: Booking Data Points to Strong Peak Season Travel

A new survey shows high levels of confidence among travelers for the peak Northern summer travel holiday season. This corresponds with first quarter 2023 forward bookings data for May – September which is tracking at 35% above 2022 levels.

Expectations are high for this year’s peak Northern summer travel season. For many this will be their first post-pandemic travel experience. -Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.

Collaboration, sufficient staffing and accurate information sharing are all essential to minimize operational disruptions and their impact on passengers. The key is ensuring that the capacities which have been declared and scheduled are available.

“A lot of work has gone into preparing for the peak Northern summer travel season. Success rests on readiness across all players in the supply chain. If each player delivers on what has been declared, there should be no last minute requirements to reduce the scale of the schedules that travelers have booked on,” said Careen

Read more about forward bookings and how all players across the supply chain need to deliver as declared.

Ground Handling Priorities: Recruitment & Retention, Global Standards and Digitalization

At the 35th IATA Ground Handling Conference (IGHC), sponsored by Etihad Airways, Monika Mejstrikova, IATA’s Director of Ground Operations, highlighted three priorities to enable the ground handling sector to build resilience and ensure long-term sustainability: Effective staff recruitment and retention, consistent implementation of global standards, accelerated digitalization and automation.

A series of initiatives to help alleviate labor shortages were also outlined:

• Implementation of competency-based training, with more online assessments to improve speed and efficiency
• Mutual recognition of security training and employee background records among authorities, to expedite the recruitment process and reduce redundancy
• Automation of processes to relieve people from performing physically challenging tasks
• Promoting career development and rewarding years of training and skills

Additionally, IATA recently launched a Ground Ops Training Passport which supports staff retention and professional growth. It mutually recognizes skills and training across ground handlers, airlines, and airports to drive cross-utilization of skilled personnel.

Learn more about digitalization and automation, the global standardization of processes, and effective staff recruitment and retention .

More from IGHC

• ISAGO: 15 Years of Advancing Aviation Safety
• Full Remarks of Monika Mejstrikova, Director Ground Operations
• Optimizing Resources for Streamlined Ramp Operations

Chart of the Week: Strong Ticket Sales Point to a Busy Summer Travel Season

Air ticket sales for the upcoming summer season (May - September 2023) increased by 35.2% year-on-year, reaching 92% of 2019 industry-wide levels . This growth underscores the strong desire among travelers worldwide to fly during the peak summer season in the northern hemisphere.

The rising number of ticket purchases serves as a leading indicator of passenger demand and is in line with the robust growth in passenger traffic witnessed through the end of the first quarter of 2023. Notably, global revenue passenger-kilometers showed an impressive annual increase of 58.3% in the first quarter, recovering to 85.9% of 2019 levels.

With widespread growth anticipated for the upcoming summer period, the industry's primary challenge will be to ensure sufficient system capacity to minimize potential delays.

Learn more about the #WeeklyChart , the strong recovery of summer travel air ticket sales and the additional challenges that are expected for the 2023 summer.

Jet Fuel Price Monitor (19 May)

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