Veteran Airline Executive Richard Vandy Joins BagsID Network as VP Systems Integration

BagsID Network announced that Richard Vandy has joined the company as vice president of systems integration. With a career in the aviation industry going back 24 years, Vandy has worked with British Airways, Etihad Airways, and most recently as Principal Consultant at Amadeus IT Ltd. 

Vandy brings with him a wealth of operations and systems experience. At British Airways he was instrumental in deploying LEAN working practices across Ramp Operations in the run up to the move to Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, as well as spending several years as a Ramp Operations Manager. 

At Etihad Airways, Vandy spent time as manager network baggage and also as manager baggage systems. He led the strategy and delivery for all baggage and arrivals operations across the entire Etihad Airways network and was responsible for rolling out a network-wide Baggage Management System. Following the successful roll out, Etihad was accreted by IATA for being the first airline in the world to achieve full baggage tracing. Vandy was also a member on the IATA and SITA Baggage Working groups and managed a number of system upgrades including Baggage Reconciliation Systems and US Pre-Clearance. More recently, at Amadeus, he worked with a number of National Airlines, improving efficiencies within their above and below wing operations. 

“The aviation industry is currently going through a seismic change. On the one hand it is having to deal with the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic brings, but at the same time, this is an opportunity for change and streamlining the way that both airlines and airports operate. As the fourth industrial revolution begins to take hold in everything that we do, there is massive potential within the end-to-end baggage journey for automation and moving away from old ways of working. It is an honour to join BagsID and I am excited to help the baggage world move into a new era with AI based baggage recognition and authentication,” explained Vandy on his decision to join the promising start-up. 

“We are very happy with Richard joining the team. It is without a doubt that his expertise is crucial for our roll-out,” added Marlon van der Meer, CEO of BagsID. “While our solution is disrupting the baggage handling industry, we are certainly not disrupting existing operations. That’s where Richard comes into place. We believe BagsID is the solution that can be used on top of existing infrastructure and technologies, avoiding large capital investments.”