| The likes of Go, EasyJet and
Ryanair rarely bother employing more than
a handful of staff at airports. They contract
out most jobs to specialist agencies.
Groundstar, a Newcastle-based handling
agent, recently took on one of the trickiest
accounts in the low-cost world - handling
Ryanair's flights at Stansted. Ryanair was
forced to admit this month that problems
have followed, with tempers rising due to
staff shortages and broken baggage belts.
An assistant at Groundstar's head office
says however that the company provides an
A to Z service for airlines. Its staff check
in passengers, load bags, check passports,
clean aircraft, "push back" planes
for take-off and pacify angry travellers.
However, our airline will also need a fuel
supplier and a catering contractor, even
if on-board meals amount to nothing more
than Pringles and limp chicken sandwiches.
Ground-handling in Britain is dominated
by a handful of agencies - notably Servisair
and Aviance (until recently known as Reed
Aviation).
Arrangements at continental destinations
can be more informal, according to weary
airline executives. One aviation source
says: "The boss of an airport might
tell us we can land there. But he'll say:
"you must use Jose's fuel and my cousin's
catering company"."
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