Calender
GSE Buyers & Ramp-Ops Conference
April 14, 2014 - April 16, 2014
Dublin, Ireland
86th Annual AAAE Annual Conference & Exposition
May 18, 2014 - May 21, 2014
San Antonio, TX
Business Buzz
Swissport International, reported an 11 percent increase in revenue for 2013 compared to 2012. Main contributors to Swissport´s growth were the full year impact of the Flightcare acquisition as well as new contract wins, including, a multi-year contract with Etihad Cargo, a five-year Pan-European agreement signed with Germanwings, covering 11 countries, and the expansion of the business in Morocco with additional nine airports.
Matheson Flight Extenders Division has grown by 20 percent with the addition of four new strategic metro area markets in less than four months, bringing the number of total markets served by MFE to 20 across the continental U.S. and Alaska. A new market in Sacramento, CA, was acquired when Evergreen EAGLE Aviation filed for bankruptcy last December. (Sacramento is also the national headquarters for Matheson Trucking, Inc. and the Matheson Flight Extenders Division.) The other three new markets were obtained during a federal government bidding process and include Tulsa, OK; Charleston, WV, and Orlando, FL.
Aviation Safeguards announced last month that a U.S. district judge threw out a lawsuit filed in July 2012 by several company workers and United Service Workers West, a local of the Service Employees International Union. The case accused company managers of coercing their employees' choice of union representation before a majority of workers voted to terminate an SEIU contract in December 2011.
Quintessentially Aviation Handling, completed its new executive passenger and crew terminal facilities at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Quintessentially Aviation Handling, which officially launched its new FBO at NBAA 2013 in Las Vegas, NV, is a part of the Quintessentially Group, a leader in global concierge services for ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
LEKTRO, Inc. delivered its 4,300th tug to Million Air YYC, in Calgary, Canada. LEKTRO’s Executive Vice President Jesse Long personally visited YYC to deliver the all-electric vehicle. YYC is Million Air’s newest FBO.
Global Ground Support has renewed the lease for its 112,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Olathe, KS. In addition, Global Ground Support expects to add 25 new jobs during the next five years.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport unveiled a new project that by the end of the year will provide nearly 600 charging stations for electric GSE. Alaska Airlines has taken the lead in this green opportunity with 204 electric vehicles (146 with Alaska, 58 with Horizon) in operation on the ground at Sea-Tac.
United Airlines is cracking down on passengers who drag oversized bags into the cabin. The crackdown on oversized bags is an effort to address what United says is one of the biggest gripes among its passengers: The overhead bins are so overstuffed with carry-on bags that the boarding process is often bogged down as fliers try to find space for their luggage.
New Deals
Signature Flight Support acquired Metro Flight Services at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Metro Flight Services provides fueling, ground handling and FBO services to commercial airlines and business and general aviation operators. Post-acquisition, Signature will provide all FBO services and sister company, ASIG will continue to provide commercial fueling and ground handling services at DTW.
ASIG acquired the assets of Skytanking USA, Inc., an independent provider of aviation fuel services. Skytanking USA has more than 350 employees and owns more than 800 pieces of refueling-related assets. The company, which is headquartered in South Florida, has operations at 14 U.S. airports, six of which represent new markets for ASIG.
Liquip has successfully completed Phase 1 of its planned upgrade of its North Carolina manufacturing facility. The investment helps the firm reduce lead times and offer a broader range of refueling solutions for global aviation operators.
JBT AeroTech was awarded a contract valued in excess of $5 million for the supply of gate equipment to O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The contract with Airports Company South Africa includes the supply of Jetway® passenger boarding bridges as part of the airport's ongoing terminal infrastructure updates.
Tronair will provide ground test tools for aircraft maintenance of all RAT products of UTC Aerospace Systems and Hamilton Sundstrand under the terms of the three-year exclusive licensing agreement.
