In collaboration with one of the UK’s largest ground handling companies, we devised a 6-week trial involving three main carriers at a large regional airport.  The trial involved all staff in the office and on the apron being trained in how to use Damarel’s unique handheld PDA solution.  This intelligent piece of technology equipped with 3G, GPRS and wireless capability, operates in conjunction with the FiNDnet suite of products, allowing GHAs to manage SLA driven processes on a real-time basis, recording and updating actions shipside, as soon as they happen. 

The trial had three main objectives and we wanted to prove:

1. Staff in the office are able to manage the operation promptly and more effectively because they have a real-time view of the information, as it happens.

2. The use of the Damarel PDA solution facilitates a more precise way of recording services, resulting in a more accurate billing process, increasing charge capture and revenue.

3. Agents out in the field could have additional flights allocated to them while they were working out on the apron, greatly increasing efficiency.   

Our findings - positive feedback from users, managers: 

►  The PDA is straightforward to operate - ground handlers using the PDA found the handheld device to be intuitive and easy to operate. Agents were given up to the minute details of each individual flight and they could have additional flights added to their itinerary whilst they were on the apron.  

►  It’s incredibly efficient for agents out in the field - because FiNDnet Mobile utilises both handheld and fixed terminal technology, it can actively prompt agents to perform tasks.  The built in traffic light system generates alerts to the GHA of the status of individual flights and prompts staff to carry out tasks as and when action is needed.  Simply, green denotes a task within its deadline, amber flags up all approaching limits and red indicates that a particular deliverable has been missed; meaning all actions are carried out at the right time.  Plus, the PDA eliminates the need for time consuming paperwork, making managing SLA processes much easier and more accurate.

►  It speeds up processes for in-office staff - because the FiNDnet Mobile application can uniquely configure data to the specific needs of the customer for a limitless number of tasks, it speeds up processes and improves overall performance.  Office staff were kept up to date, with detailed real-time information, relating to all aircraft movements for all carriers.  

►  It provides an instantaneous, at a glance overview - FiNDnet’s consolidated performance view allows managers to have an immediate overview of how each operation is performing; enabling them to monitor and fine tune operations and react to potential problems as the need arises. 

Overall a Resounding Success:

The handheld PDA has proved to be a great success with results and feedback from the trial being very positive, and most importantly all three aims and objectives were achieved.  Conclusively, using the handheld PDA delivered substantial benefits to the operation, increasing efficiency and helping to improve service quality and performance - proving that Damarel’s new PDA is a perfect fit for real operations.  

Damarel’s FiNDnet PDA is now ready for live release: to achieve the same success for your ground handling business order yours now!  For more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to find out how the FiNDnet Suite and handheld PDA can help you.