Attitudes to PRM handling appear to vary considerably in the UK and around the world.
Although the IATA standard ground handling agreement (SGHA) places responsibilities squarely on the shoulders of the airport operators/owners and the airlines, it still seems that there is a reluctance or difficulty to turn those responsibilities into anything more than a duty.
It is accepted that the volume of PRM’s is steadily increasing as our population ages. Yet, even with this information, the way that PRM’s in the UK are handled remains rooted in the past.
Vehicles that are used to load restricted mobility passengers are being fitted with a number of gadgets and gizmos, but the fact is that they are still expensive to buy, operate and maintain and, regardless of their performance, still give an airport the same level of service and problems that have always existed.
Ambulifts, due to the fact that they have to travel to pick up and drop off passengers, cannot be in more than one place at one time. Any delay to one aircraft, for any reason, delays another.
Often the final link in the chain, the PRM handler finds himself in the firing line of complaints from passengers and investigations by the airport and airlines.
As we will have read on many occasions, passengers with mobility issues are still being left behind from their flights because, for whatever reason, the services provided fail or cannot achieve the loading deadlines demanded by airlines. There is very little room for error and mechanical defects and that, inevitably, leads to delays for everyone.
Why are EU regulations ignored?
In 2011, nobody should ever be refused from boarding an aircraft on the grounds that insufficient and inadequate equipment is available on the day that they travel.
That is the vision of AER. With this low cost piece of equipment, we believe that it is not only desirable for everyone to be loaded within the airline schedule, but quite possible provided that everyone in is prepared to think about the process in a new way.
Despite EU regulations that require equal rights for all air travellers they are not being achieved. Airlines and operators are still making negative headlines. It really is time to take a fresh look and a new approach.
The fitted cost of the Ambistair is just £12,500 so you would think that selling a piece of ground service equipment that starts first time, every time in all weathers; that does not require eight services a year and does not break down, would be easy to sell compared to a unit which can cost ten times as much.
It isn’t easy for the simple reason that the European aviation industry is stuck in the past in this regard. There is a strong sense of “we have always done it this way” leading to a reluctance to change.
The notification process about the need for PRM services seems to be an issue in many cases. Despite the SGHA code for a particular disability type, a company or airport may interpret it very differently and produce a PRM service that is not fit for purpose.
The change to a standard code for each disability would appear to be an easy starting point to avoiding such a problem.
Ambistair also helps with late notifications. By having a few Ambistair units available at an airport there is far less chance that the arrival of another PRM will lead to delays. And if the only ambulift vehicle on site is busy then delays are likely or, worse, ground staff use inappropriate methods of handling such passengers.
Why is America so keen?
America is a different animal. There, airlines are solely responsible for the passenger from their ticket purchase, to boarding the aircraft, during the flight and until the passenger has left the destination airport.
In addition to everything else, they also have to provide a seat free of charge for a carer. Failure to do so can cost the airline $25,000 in fines per occasion. This makes America very keen on the Ambistair as the price works out at around $20,000.
Our biggest American customer so far is Alaska Airlines. As a result of an enthusiastic pitch from Dewey Kulzer of Elite Line Services, the airline agreed to test the unit in snowbound Nome, Alaska.
After the trial, the company realized that not only had the ramp staff chosen to use the Ambistair instead of the ambulift trucks, but they had noticed an improvement in aircraft turnaround times as they were not waiting for the ambulift service to arrive at the aircraft or terminal.
Ambistair coped, without fault, in the snow and ice of Nome, which has lead to Alaska Airlines purchasing a number of units for its operations in Seattle, Anchorage, Barrow, Bethel, Bellingham and Burbank.
Perhaps the fact that Alaska Airlines often handles its own aircraft gave it a good reason to replicate the efficiencies found during the trial in Nome.
Who is responsible for PRM equipment?
However there’s plenty of room for change and improvement. For example, imagine the following situation:
It is 2011 and an ambulift truck has never been seen on a particular airport. All of the PRM movements have been carried out by the Ambistair for the past 30 years.
So here I am in a meeting with an airport operator, airline and ground handler introducing a fantastic new vehicle that carries PRM’s from the terminal building to the aircraft door.
The prospective buyer takes notes: It costs at least ten times the amount as current PRM loading equipment; some may even cost 23 times more than the Ambistair for the new large A380; will need several of them to service the variety aircraft that land at the airport; uses diesel and requires regular servicing by the already busy MT department; unit may increase the chances of aircraft delays if it is unavailable due to a defect – or being used on another aircraft at the same time; will require at least two staff to operate it safely as opposed to one the Ambistair needs; may be accidents to aircraft and injury to staff and passengers; means more equipment on the already crowded airport stand; cannot be used during high winds; cannot be used during fuelling; family members may be separated before the flight.
After that, I would expect to be shown the door – but not so.
Unlike America, or where airlines handle their own passengers, there is a certain ambiguity in who should buy PRM equipment at UK airport.
Under the IATA SGHA, an airport must provide such services to passengers. However the passenger becomes the airline’s responsibility where the jet bridge meets the aircraft fuselage or as soon as one foot is placed on the stairs to the aircraft.
On many occasions an airline gives the responsibility for passenger handling to an agent. In turn, the PRM handling may be contracted out to a dedicated company.
So who is responsible for buying PRM equipment? Whatever the answer, the benefits of using an Ambistair are fairly obvious as airline and airport profits become increasingly constrained. We recently showed a handler they could save £1 million of reduced capital cost, servicing and staffing costs associated with ambulift vehicles.
What about the Olympics?
Frankly, I don’t think that airports are ready for the Paralympics and Olympic Games next year. And I am sure that a decision to purchase a new ambulift, just to overcome the increased demand during the summer months, is not one that the finance departments are going to be comfortable with.
Airports and handlers will try to cope with the obvious increase in demand by using the services and equipment that they already have but it won’t enough.
This is where the Ambistair will make it possible to meet the increase in demand without risking long delays to passengers and aircraft. Not to mention the inconvenience and reputational damage to handler, airport, airline – and Britain.
- Based at Stansted airport, Paul Crowther is an executive with Aviation Equipment Resources. The company provides GSE solutions to airports and airlines worldwide.
Stannah provides cost-effective solution for PRMs
Since the unceremonious handling of his father onto a flight, Aviation Equipment Resources Director, Glyn Martin believed that there must be a more dignified, efficient and inexpensive way to embark and disembark passengers with reduced mobility.
Believing that the solution lay only in looking at the issue from a fresh perspective, he made a list of the difficulties faced by airport operators, airlines, handlers and Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) services.
He soon realised that the conventional method of loading passengers using large, diesel-hungry ambulift vehicles had become the standard approach only because nobody had bothered to think of another solution.
Ambulifts are an expensive capital purchases for companies. They require high levels of maintenance, may be responsible for aircraft delays, damage and, on occasion, ramp staff and passenger injuries.
Glyn’s search for experts in the area of disability handling lead him straight to the doors of the Stannah Group – a UK family-owned business and world leader in stairlift manufacturing having sold more 500,000 units since 1975.
With a clear objective, Stannah agreed to develop a product that could compete with the standard methods of loading passengers but at a fraction of the capital cost while conforming to the Standards of Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA). On top of this, the product would have to be 100 percent reliable and work in every environment – hot and cold.
After destruction testing using weights and temperatures the unit would never encounter, the Ambistair was born.
The first three Ambistair units went into service for Worldwide Flight Services in Colorado nearly four years ago. Even in snow and ice, the Ambistair is a single button press and a gentle ride away from the aircraft door. The units have served WFS year-round without any failures delivering passengers to Delta Air Lines with a range of mobility issues including returning skiers with broken legs and ankles.
The Ambistair can also be fitted to existing stair units with a rail running from top to bottom. The battery operated unit glides up the rail to the top of the platform stairs where the seat is swivelled and locked by the operator to face the aircraft door. As the equipment is designed to work on any of the main aircraft doors, it can be used for simultaneous operations with other services and so improve efficiency.
Stannah trains airline or airport operator staff and the company maintains the units on behalf of its customers. The company says customer reaction to its use include: No delays due to failures or unavailability; faster aircraft turnarounds; no restriction on usage during refuelling; reduction in ramp equipment; multi-use loading of passengers; no diesel, servicing or mechanical issues to contend with; PRMs not blamed for aircraft delays; avoidance of litigation because of aircraft departure without PRMs; or operators being sued for injury.
In addition, says Stannah, airport operators have the option to acquire the same functionality as an ambulift at one tenth of the cost.
Caption to Delta pic: Ambistair has had no failures delivering passengers to Delta Air Lines with a range of mobility issues including returning skiers with broken legs and ankles.
