Michalis Panagoulias: 2023 Lifetime Achievement

As it does with other aviation enthusiasts, the “smell of kerosene” piqued Michalis Panagoulias’ fascination with aircraft. Also curious about how planes fly, he recalls being interested in working in aviation at a young age.

Panagoulias took an entry-level job in aviation and had a career-oriented vision to be part of the industry and contribute to its growth and development. From his first days as an apron loader and delivery boy to his current role as corporate health and safety manager at Goldair Handling, Panagoulias has enjoyed the journey.

“I feel lucky because Goldair Handling trusted me and supported me by many means,” he says, noting the company’s support through training, coaching, seminars and more.

Panagoulias’ career is a prime example of the opportunities afforded by ground handling for those who become a student of the industry. He has relished the experience and the variety that has come with his line of work.

Given the chance to learn something new every day, Panagoulias says the industry is never dull.

“This is what attracted me to a lifelong career in aviation and ground handling,” he says.

In recognition of his professional achievements and contributions to Goldair Handling, Panagoulias has been named the 2023 Ground Support Worldwide Lifetime Achievement award winner.

Roots from the Ramp

Panagoulias began his career in the aviation industry in 1996. Working for an airline, he was an apron loader, baggage handling system (BHS) loader and cleaner.

Two years later, he started working as a delivery boy at Goldair Handling, transporting passenger luggage between the airport and customers’ homes or hotels.

“After that, I became a ramp agent and a year later, I became a supervisor ramp agent,” Panagoulias says.

Later, he was promoted to senior supervisor of ramp handling and responsible for all ramp handling departments and activities.

When Goldair Handling relocated to the new airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” in Athens in 2001, Panagoulias was promoted to ramp duty manager. Six years later, he was named Athens Airport station manager – a position he held until the end of 2010.

Panagoulias spent a year and a half working at Goldair’s headquarters in the finance and commercial departments and then moved into the ground handling firm’s corporate health and safety manager position.

“During my career as a safety manager, I joined the IATA GSEE Task Force and IATA ASG Task Force as an active member,” he says. “Now, I am an active member of the new IATA Ground Operations Standards Working Group joining the Management and Safety sub-group.”

“When an executive develops during his professional life, he is undoubtedly characterized by possibilities and abilities that emerge, mature and ultimately yield over time. At the same time, I believe that specific elements of his character played and play an important role in Michalis' success,” says Goldair Handling CEO Dimitris Papamichail. “So, apart from the ethos I mentioned above, competitiveness, combined with a smile and calmness, distinguish him in his daily life.”

Panagoulias is appreciative of the opportunities Goldair Handling has provided him. Goldair Handling has ground handling licenses at 26 airports in Greece, three airports in Bulgaria and two airports in Cyprus, where the company is providing a full range of ground handling services. Goldair Handling’s network is comprised of more than 160 customers, including airlines, low-cost carriers, cargo airlines, executive aviation, charters and military flights.

“Our mission is to focus constantly on providing high quality ground handling services and innovative solutions, offering added value to our customers and ensuring immediate, safe and reliable operations,” Panagoulias says.

A Safety-Focused Perspective

On his path to corporate health and safety manager, Panagoulias has had many learning experiences and has gained a deep perspective of the importance of following correct standard operating procedures.

“Most accidents in ground handling occur because procedures are not followed,” he notes, adding lack of training, supervision, safety culture, resources or oversight can contribute to these incidents. “Of course, the top management of each company has a crucial role to play providing appropriate resources to achieve the goals and to create a safety culture within the organization.”

However, despite some inherent risk, Panagoulias says aviation careers are great opportunities for those who like meeting a broad, diverse range of people. He has enjoyed working with many driven, goal-oriented, talented people and learned a lot from working with them.

“People are the most important asset for every company. People need training, coaching and trust by their supervisors and they will give much more of what they are supposed to give,” Panagoulias says. “Managing people is a challenge, especially the new generations. They want to speak, and we must hear them and communicate with them regardless of their experience in our industry.

“In many cases brand-newcomers give solutions that we never thought about,” he continues. “Just hear them and communicate with them. You will gain many things.”

Everyone has valuable skills, even if they aren’t immediately identified, Panagoulias adds. So, it’s important to keep lines of communication open.

During his career, Panagoulias has worked to become a better communicator and listen to his colleagues when they have questions or concerns.

“I am very happy when employees from different departments come to my office or find me on the ramp and want to ask me something about a procedure or a safety concern/hazard or want to communicate and take directions from me on how to manage problems or concerns they face,” he says. “Even if I am tired or overloaded, my office is always open to hear and to communicate with everybody. My moto is ‘communicate and hear – this does not cost money.’”

Panagoulias also says all employees deserve respect, regardless of their work style or personality. By lending that respect to everyone, Panagoulias has been able to get the most out of his team.

His own first-hand experience in the industry has also been helpful as he works with others.

“I feel my time around ground handling has provided me with a unique perspective of aviation because I have a clear understanding how it works,” Panagoulias says. “I feel lucky because I started from the bottom and had the opportunity to understand all the ground handling activities either as an apron loader or a BHS loader or as a cleaner and a ramp agent.”

With his broad range of experience, he has become a ground handling guru and expert with safety management system (SMS) elements, which helps him convince team members who might question a certain way of doing something.

“The fact that I can convince difficult employees to follow procedures makes me very happy,” Panagoulias says.

Of course, a career that has spanned decades and has included many job titles will include challenging tasks.

For example, when Panagoulias was serving as a senior ramp handling supervisor, he was tasked with relocating all of Goldair Handling’s ground support equipment to Eleftherios Venizelos.

“It was a very stressful situation because I had no experience at all. I had to communicate and collaborate with police to close all the roads and streets, to communicate with the truck drivers to understand and follow all safety measures, with the insurances about the risks of this project and of course with our staff to support the project, keeping the timelines,” he recalls. “I didn’t sleep for many days.”

Fortunately, the project went smoothly and was ultimately successful.

When he became safety manager, Panagoulias was tasked with creating Goldair Handling’s SMS.

“I knew that I had to start from scratch because there was almost nothing in place except Excel for data entry,” he says.

Up for the challenge, he began researching articles, legislation and SMS manuals. He attended related training sessions, seminars and conferences to gather as much information as possible to set his organization up for success.

“Today, we have an effective SMS in place which is totally recognized by all our stakeholders,” Panagoulias says.

Reflection on a Diverse Career

At this stage of his career, Panagoulias has seen the ground handling industry evolve in interesting ways.

He reflects on updated approaches to centralized load control, flight documents via ACARS, autonomous equipment, among other changes, but he says standardization practices stand out the most.

For many years, Panagoulias recalls, every airline had different procedures for various tasks – like chocking and coning, for example.

“Ground staff was easily confused. I remember that we had findings during audits by airlines because ground staff didn’t remember the chocking and coning procedure of the airline, even though they were briefed,” Panagoulias says. “Standardization is mandatory to decrease incidents and accidents on ramp and of course airlines and manufacturers must support standardization of ground handling procedures as well.”

Another change in aviation is the electronic reconciliation of baggage at the BHS and the ramp while loading.

“I remember myself counting each luggage, looking at each luggage tag to confirm the destination, and the flight number,” he says. “Baggage reconciliation saved time, money and claims, and hopefully this is a procedure that is followed by almost all airlines.”

According to Panagoulias, another big change is the shorter ground times, which are beneficial for airlines but add challenges for ground handling staff.

“Short ground time creates stress, pressure, mistakes, errors to ground personnel and when we have incidents, we try to find what happened and ask ourselves if our SMS is effective,” he says, adding the pressure for on-time performance (OTP) may make the ground handling industry less appealing to the next generation of employees.

Reflecting on his personal career, there have been somber moments as well.

“A memory that I will never forget is the fact that I was the last person of Goldair Handling that left from the old airport at 4 in the morning,” he says. “Everybody was at the new airport, and I walked through all our offices, but nobody was inside. I was totally alone, only with two policeman. I switched off all lights, locked all doors and left, crying. This is unforgettable.”

Panagoulias was also chosen by Goldair Handling management to represent the company in the aftermath of the Helios Airways crash in Athens.

Overall, Panagoulias has many more positive memories than negative ones. He recalls a time he was working as a ramp agent overnight and was met with a unique challenge.

He was scheduled to handle four flights that night, but two colleagues didn’t report for their shift. Ultimately there were seven flights to be handled in a short time without additional support.

“I managed to handle seven flights in a timeframe of four hours without any delay, safety issue or complaint from the airlines,” he says.

A congratulations letter was sent to Panagoulias’ manager for the outstanding performance and this story remains a source of pride.

That night, handling seven flights, is a fitting example of the attitude Panagoulias has applied to his work. He has focused on working hard, dedicating himself to a task and fully honoring commitments.

He encourages the next wave of ground handling professionals to do the same.

“Life is not easy,” Panagoulias says, stressing the importance of trying hard. “Set targets in your life. Never give up.”

“All I wish for Michalis is to continue to be himself and to inspire his younger colleagues,” says Papamichail “I personally feel happy that I was lucky enough to have him in our team, but I also feel proud of his professional career because I believed in his value, and he justified us in every project we agreed to undertake.”