SynX Blog

The joint project of development of a bespoke de-icing monitoring solution carried out by Transpoco for a major airport client – Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) – and in collaboration with GSE vehicle manufacturer, Schmidt, has been featured on Airside International Magazine:

Transpoco’s technology solves two problems for Dublin Airport’s operator: the lack of visibility of vehicles moving around the airport; and the lack of a digital record of where, or how much, potassium acetate is being used in the Schmidt de-icing equipment clearing its paved areas.

Transpoco had previously worked with Schmidt vehicles on behalf of its county council clients, which have used Schmidt equipment in their winter maintenance fleets.

However, this was the first time that Transpoco had worked with Schmidt on airport vehicles, and the collaboration “demonstrates how its technology can be adapted to any equipment”, says Andrew Fleury, CEO at Transpoco.

And he concludes: “Transpoco is not aware of the development of this exact telematics solution being used anywhere else.”

Transpoco has technology implemented in over 60 different countries and at airports in cities including Madrid, Barcelona, London, Paris, Lisbon and Brussels, as well as Dublin.

At such uncertain times for the world and with everyone taking extraordinary measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, drivers still work delivering food, medicines and essentials to help us fight against the virus.

As a company working with those who rely on driving, we would like to share a list of best practices we use to ensure the safety of both drivers, customers and general public, aimed at avoiding the spread of the virus.

#1 - Basic protective measures against Covid-19

The typical symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Seek for immediate medical advice if you are displaying any of these symptoms. You should not drive/work if you feel sick. In order to help containment and not spread the virus or get sick:

• wash your hands frequently with water and soap or make sure you have an alcohol-based gel with you
• maintain at least 1 meter/3 feet distance between yourself and anyone else
• avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth: hands touch many surfaces and can pick up the virus
• cough or sneeze in your bent elbow or in a disposable paper tissue you will throw away immediately afterwards
• follow the advise of your healthcare provider and your local authorities

#2 - Before driving

before driving, add the following checks to your usual walkaround checks/pre-trip checklist:

• Check you have enough hygiene supplies to work: face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer
• clean the outside of the vehicle, concentrating on points that can be touched by either passengers, co-workers or other people such as door handles
• clean the main points of contact inside your vehicle, like the steering wheel, the seat and the dashboard, handles, radio device if any, and don't forget about your mobile phone

#3 - While driving

• If you sneeze or cough, cover nose and mouth with your bent elbow or help yourself with a paper tissue that has to be disposed afterwards
• open the windows to improve ventilation if possible
• ask coworkers, passengers and people to maintain the safety distance
• if you are going to have passengers, prepare your vehicle in advance for that purpose, assigning seats in an adequate way in order to keep the distance - ask your company to provide posters or reminders to be displayed in the vehicle

#4 - Contactless delivery

• if you are a delivery driver, ask your company to implement contactless/deliver at door tools to avoid contact as much as possible
• agree the point of delivery with your customer and communicate in advance

With the global pandemic we are facing at the moment, the health and safety of our employees are of utmost importance. To this extent, Transpoco has fully implemented a work from home policy for the whole staff.

As a global organization, we are equipped with the necessary tools and workflows to ensure that our business operations will continue as normal, and the quality of support will not be compromised. Our sales, Customer Service and Support teams are eager to offer assistance, ideally by email at:

support@transpoco.com

We trust you will appreciate our evolved ways of working and wish you and your loved ones good health in the weeks ahead.

Mallaghan, one of the world’s leading providers of airport ground support equipment with more than 30 years’ experience designing and manufacturing Ground Service Equipment (GSE) sold to airports and airlines in more than 100 countries across the world, has recently launched an employee rewards initiative.

The awards program involves Mallaghan employees who have worked for the company for 10, 15 or 20 years, with prizes ranging from money vouchers, corporate gifts or extra annual (paid) leave.

Ronan Mallaghan, Chief Executive at Mallaghan commented: “At Mallaghan our focus is on driving innovation for aviation and our employees are the people who make this happen. The dedication and commitment of our employees is hugely valued and we’re thrilled to officially recognise our longest serving employees with this new initiative.”

According to Sinead Gaynor, HR Manager at Mallaghan, “Mallaghan is committed to continually investing in and developing our people, in order to successfully expand and grow as a business."

As a leading provider of GSE fleet management systems, we know how training employees and rewarding them can positively impact on your organisation. Setting up driving competitions based on the best performer in terms of safety or fuel savings has proved to be a very efficient way of incentivising your team and rewarding them at the same time. If you want to learn more on driver challenges as a powerful method to raise driver awareness, talk to us.

Following the commitment of airlines and airports towards sustainable business, Finnair, the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, and Neste, the world’s leader in the production of sustainable aviation fuel, have formed a partnership which is seen as a particularly important one for Finnair's targets of carbon neutrality.

The agreement will not only result in an increase in the use of sustainable fuel made by Finnair, but also in the production of sustainable aviation fuel in Finland. According to experts, relying on sustainable aviation fuels could reduce emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels.

According to Topi Manner, CEO at Finnair, "Sustainable aviation fuels are a key part of our long-term plan for carbon neutrality – by the end of 2025, we expect to spend some 10 million euros annually on sustainable aviation fuels. Developing a healthy SAF market requires commitment from forerunners, and we are happy to be leading the way with Neste."

Peter Vanacker, Neste's President and CEO, added, "Besides the fuel supply, this partnership offers us an opportunity for contributing to our own climate targets by decreasing CO2 emissions of our employees’ business travel with Finnair through the use of Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel.”

In addition to this, Finnair is planning to offer integrated ticket solutions that will include sustainable aviation fuel as an option, so that customers might be able to contribute themselves to decreasing their carbon footprint through their own purchases. Ways to help corporate customers to reduce the emissions generated by their travels are also included in the global plan.

Driving on airside roads and aprons is a challenging task that is completely different from operating vehicles in a traditional scenario. People who usually drive inside the restricted areas of an airport must have an ADP - Airside Driving Permit, a special personal and non-transferable document that allows them to access the apron and drive in all or some of the airport grounds.

In order to obtain the ADP, applicants must hold a valid driving license for the category of vehicle they will drive and pass an exam to prove their knowledge of what we could define the local highway code - the apron safety rules - of which the content will be decided by the airport where they will operate: every ADP is valid only for the airport where it has been obtained. Organisations requiring their staff to drive in airside areas are responsible for ensuring that their drivers meet the conditions for the issue of the Airside Driving Permit. All employers must in fact ensure that their drivers are given adequate training. Training usually includes a full explanation of all regulations and notices applying to the airside areas and other knowledge, such as practical instruction in driving during the day or at night.

But according to RTITB Airside, an airside training company, many airports put operations and people at risk as they do not properly assess practical driving ability before issuing the ADP. Laura Nelson, Managing Director of the company, states in an interview with Airside magazine that “Often an ADP for apron roads is issued simply on the basis that the applicant has completed a theory training course and test” and that “Even after having completed an ADP theory course and test, the most experienced driver may still find it challenging to drive a vehicle on airside roads and aprons,” she continues. 

Apart from the need to be aware of airport workers, passengers, baggage handling operators and vehicles, drivers that operate in airport contexts need to understand speed limits, parking regulations and aircraft stand rules and understand the need to check their vehicles and the possible hazards present in their driving tasks.

What often happens is that once the ADP is obtained, there might be the impression that continuous training is no longer needed, while there is still a learning curve that needs to happen before drivers acquire security and, even after that, the most seasoned drivers could become complacent and would almost certainly need some useful reminders.

Assessing risks in GSE fleets could be made more comprehensive with the implementation of a tracking system capable of detecting driving behaviour patterns completed by a maintenance system to help drivers understand how to perform daily vehicle checks and familiarise themselves with vehicle inspections.

The priorities of GSE fleet managers are preventing delays, optimising turnarounds and delivering dynamic operations. These goals are achievable if work is carried out efficiently by the team and if the ground support equipment is in the best condition to do so.

Keeping tabs on your GSE fleet helps maintaining reliable operations while eliminating ground incidents. But how can GSE fleet management systems help fleet managers schedule maintenance for their fleet?

Let's have a look at these ways you can identify and schedule appropriate maintenance for your GSE!

#1 - Tracking your vehicles. Having the knowledge of what is happening at any time in any point on the ramp and getting a detailed recording of the activity of your GSE vehicles can not only help you save fuel and avoid wasting energy, it can also reduce wear and tear and detect potential issues on time and consequently schedule appropriate maintenance.

#2 - Automating maintenance. There is just so many things to check to make sure your vehicles are ready and fit for work. If you had a system capable of reminding maintenance was due, providing updates on servicing and recording vehicle utilization, you would get instant information on the status of your vehicles and would be ready to take any action.

#3 - Speeding up the completion of daily/pre-shift inspections. Make sure ground workers carry out their daily checks with digitalised inspections, that can be done quickly before equipment use to reduce the risk of downtime and incidents that might compromise the safety of your team. With the patterns and history you get from electronic vehicle checks you can easily forecast maintenance costs.

Our GSE solution makes vehicle maintenance predictable and quickly actionable - talk to us if you want to learn more.

According to news reported by Airside International, the global aircraft de-icing market is expected to grow in the near future. De-icing is of course of paramount importance for aircraft safety, and despite the presence of anti-ice devices on engines and wings, the accumulation of ice or snow has to be carried out by airport employees or ground support equipment services that are specialized in this particularly delicate and essential operation.

Four key reasons behind the development of the de-icing market:

#1 - Increasing orders for aircraft. The growing demand of the aviation sector, translating into higher passenger numbers and consequently in the need for more aircraft, is creating a greater need for de-icing services.

#2 - Climate change. The global uncertainty around weather conditions has caused higher investments in de-icing systems and equipment in order to be prepared for sudden weather changes.

#3 - The arrival of Electro-Impulse De-Icing (EIDI). This new de-icing system is an innovative one that is expected to provide excellent results with low power consumption.

#4 - Need for swift de-icing procedures. The growth of this particular segment of aviation is developing as de-icing procedures are becoming crucial to ease pressure from very busy airports, especially in the North America region where adverse climate events and hurricanes often impact the exterior of the aircraft.

We have developed a de-icing monitoring solution with the collaboration of a vehicle manufacturer that has helped airlines to get accurate reports in real-time of usage and coverage on site to ensure aircraft stands, aprons and roadways are treated appropriately and in a timely fashion. Contact us if you want to learn more.