Airlines could face chaos at airports over baggage handling company changeover

On March 19 the Spanish company Clece/South was to takeover baggage handling operations from UK firm Menzies at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports.

But airlines and airport managers are worried that the changeover will be far from smooth because a court is still deciding to issue an injunction on behalf of Menzies which could halt the entire changeover and even which company will actually process millions of items of luggage daily at the airports.

Clece/South was the consortium that won the baggage handling tender in January for new seven year licenses at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports.

However, the court has yet to decide if it will suspend the new handling contracts coming into force.

Worse, the uncertainty swirling around which operator will provide ground handling services on May 19 has delayed the process of transferring workers between companies.

And to make matters even more complicated, the airlines don’t know which handler they will work with, since those that currently have a contract with Menzies may have to make a new one with the Spanish consortium.

The National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) had announced that ANA – the VINCI airports management company – “is preparing a plan to ensure a smooth transition and maintain airport operations.”

“As per our legal and contractual prerogatives, we will cooperate with licensed ground handling operators to ensure that the physical spaces they need to provide services to their client airlines at different airports are made available.”

In other words, ANA acknowledges that it will try to find available physical space at the airports, particularly for equipment and staff – even if they can’t do it within a month.

The problem is that ANA doesn’t have the power to intervene when it comes to changing over staff from one company to another and that could lead to problems.

Source: Negócios; Credits; ANA