GSSA
UPDATE
All change?
Declining yields are accelerating GSSA efforts to diversify
the business and grow network reach, reckons Ian Putzger.
Ingo Zimmer, CEO of ATC
Aviation Services, looks back
somewhat wistfully on the
way business was going a year
ago. “Overall, 2018 was even
better than 2017. We were
benefi tting from higher yield,
and we were also able to push
up the tonnage,” he recalls.
The decline that set in towards
the end of last year, though,
has changed that picture. “My
fi gures are one or two percent
lower than last year, but yield
is drastically reduced,” he says.
“So 2019 will be a challenging
year for the industry.”
The reversal has prompted
lively discussions between
airlines and their GSSAs.
Discussion time
Airlines often base budgets
on the previous year and they
used to set their pricing for the
season, but the volatility that
has characterised the market in
recent months has caused more
and more carriers to review
pricing on a monthly basis,
notes John Gilfeather, Sales
Director at Network Aviation
Services.
“They still have standard
seasonal pricing, but there is a
necessity for tactical reviews,”
he notes.
The situation has reinforced
a trend that has been in play
for a few years now, fi nds
Zimmer. Increasingly, airlines
want their GSSAs to focus on
yield. “In the past it was more
revenue driven, now it’s more
yield driven,” he remarks.
ATC tries to accomplish
this by improving the mix
of cargo, by going more into
verticals and targeting small
and mid-sized companies
more. In addition, Zimmer
fi nds that GSSAs have to offer
elevated service levels to their
airline clients. “The service
element is getting more and
more important, and they
control it,” he says simply.
Stephen Dawkins, CEO
of Air Logistics Group, notes
that it is also becoming
increasingly necessary to
offer a full range of services,
from overseeing handlers
and managing trucking to
customer service, data
... there is a
necessity for
tactical reviews
John Gilfeather, Sales Director, Network
Aviation Services
www.airlogisticsinternational.com June 2019 43
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com