The team once again made us proud after being announced as winners of the Best Front Liner Awards 2021 organised by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB). The announcement was premiered live on 30 June 2021 and in this edition, more than 100 nominations were received for both individual and group categories.
Having already bagged an award in the recent Anugerah WOW, the heart-warming Makcik Nguyen Story once again caught the jury’s attention and beat the rest to become one of the winners in the Group Category.
The story which was also featured in the PULSEdaily on 8th April 2020 reminisced a unique bond between a stranded Vietnamese senior citizen who was unable to head back home due to border closure and the Command Centre Team, who discovered her predicament. For 16 days, Makcik Nguyen was well taken care of before she finally got on board to fly home. This had eventually left a long-lasting impression on both and saying goodbye was rather bittersweet.
Delivering Malaysian Hospitality is the SOP but going beyond is exceptional. Makcik Nguyen was not being treated like any regular customer but rather someone that they loved and cared for, like their own mother. For that, heartiest congratulations to Command Centre Team for the recognition and to Makcik Nguyen, we hope you are staying well and healthy.
For the full announcement, you may watch the clip below!
With how the world is changing, continuous learning and improvement will surely give us an edge to move forward progressively. Realizing this fact, AeroDarat Services launches the “ADSx: Beyond Four Walls”, a sharing session platform that aims to provide the audience with a new environment of learning by listening to life experience, bittersweet stories and essential skills of people around us. With the tagline of “Beyond Four Walls”, ADSx forms an integral part of AeroDarat transformation initiatives that help to nurture a team of progressive, open, knowledgeable, and skillful team.
24th June 2021 marked a milestone in ADSx where the first series entitled “From the Sky Above to the Ground Ops” was successfully broadcasted with almost 200 “live” audience via Microsoft Webinar. The session was also attended by colleagues across MAG.
Two notable speakers, Ms. Radhiyah and Ms. Umi Khaltom took the stage and kept the audience glued to the screen throughout an hour-long session. As former In-Flight Supervisors (IFS), they started off with reminiscing their early journey as cabin crews and how they progressively climbed the ladder to become the IFS before joining AeroDarat, picking up valuable knowledge and experience along the way.
Centred mostly on hospitality and service excellence, there were many key takeaways from the session ranging from the importance of end-to-end execution of quality service, service irregularity and recovery, leadership as well as a touch on personal appearance in representing the image of the organization, of course, a subject that any former IFS could never be part with.
It was indeed an informative session and the life experience shared was relevant to be applied not only at workplace but in personal life too. It was worth the time spent and the audience already looked forward for the next ADSx session with more interesting topics and speakers.
The aviation industry is one of the industries that is hardest hit by Covid-19 pandemic due to the closure of borders in almost all countries all over the world. When Movement Control Order was announced by the government in March 2020, the abrupt impact had left many aviation industry work force struggling to make ends meet including those in Penang International Airport where many were forced to take unpaid leave or even faced retrenchment.
AeroDarat Services at Penang International Airport (ADS PEN), on the other hand, had its hands full in handling charter and rescue flights for cargo and passengers out of Penang, Malaysia. Only government authorized flights and those evacuating passengers from Malaysia were permitted to operate and ADS PEN was entrusted by the foreign carriers (FOCA) to handle those charter flights.
In adherence to COVID-19 SOPs, various measures were put in place as the safety of passengers and staff was the utmost priority. Firstly, ample space at check-in area was provided to avoid crowding and to adhere to social distancing requirement. The check-in counters were opened earlier than usual i.e. 4 hours prior to departure instead of 2 hours to allocate more time for passengers to check in. Further safety measure was taken by assigning staff to check passengers’ body temperature at the entrance and to guide them at the check in counters.
To ensure the smooth process during check-in, the staff also need to first ensure all passengers have their face masks on, hand sanitizers and all their travel documents and health declaration forms ready as per the mandatory requirement.
We share some of the memorable flights handled by AeroDarat Penang during the pandemic strike in 2020.
Myanmar Airways International flight departed from Penang to Yangon on 19th June 2020 with a total of 136 passengers. All passengers were Myanmar nationals who went back to their hometown on this charter flight.
The airline’s Head of Ground Operations Manager Ms Kyi Kyi in complimenting the AeroDarat expressed her gratitude for seamless and smooth operations. “We can say that this is the best ground handler for our charter flight operations during COVID-19 pandemic period. Really appreciate your teamwork. Hope to see you again”, she added. On 15th August 2020, the team again handled another flight with bigger capacity of 170 passengers.
The team also was entrusted to handle Lucky Air charter flight and Vietnam Air charter flights. Carrying cargo onboard, Lucky Air operated as daily flights from Chengdu, China to Penang, Malaysia from May to June 2020 while Vietnam Air operated from Saigon, Vietnam to Penang, Malaysia from June until October 2020.
Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic during its early days, ADS PEN team managed to weather the storm and continued to provide the services to support those in need.
Heartiest congratulations and well done to all AeroDarat’s Anugerah WOW Award Winners! As the saying goes, “Difficult times often bring out the best in people” and your win is a manifestation of striving for the best regardless of the situation. You have been an inspiration for the rest to follow in your footsteps and the changemakers for a better tomorrow. We are proud of you and we hope everyone will keep up the momentum.
It is an icing on the cake by taking home the Best Video Performance award too. Thank you to the Changemaker ambassadors for the footage contributions from Baggage Office (MLO), Foreign Carrier Department, Golden Lounge, GSE and DOM Stations and last but not least, our in-house “Creative Director cum Producer”, Khairi Ngadiran who assembled the footages into an amazing video.
For the rest of nominations submitted to Anugerah WOW, you did us proud by bringing to light the various achievements in AeroDarat and the extraordinary people we have in the organization. The participation itself was certainly significance and a recognition in its own. And to all AeroDarat staff, nominated or not, you have indeed played an important role for all the achievements, directly and indirectly. You have contributed in your own ways and sincerely performing the duties and serving our customers to your level best. Keep on the magnificent efforts and teamwork.
On 12 May 2021, in the final sprint of the month of Ramadhan, NGO Antarabangsa led by its chairman Datuk Dr. Mustapha Ahmad Marican handed over 60 boxes packed with grocery items to AeroDarat Services. AeroDarat’s Chief Executive Officer, En. Mohd. Nadziruddin Mohd Basri represented the company in the symbolic ceremony held under strict adherence to COVID-19 SOPs.
The boxes were part of the 500 in total, contributed by The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Malaysia and distributed by NGO Antarabangsa to those affected by the pandemic. Speaking in the event, Datuk Dr. Mustapha wished the boxes containing items such as rice, sugar, cooking oil and flour would assist to ease the burden of employees in need. “This is the first engagement that we have with AeroDarat and we hope that we could further expand this type of program in the future”, he said. He also applauded measures taken by the organization to keep the current number of staff despite the challenging times.
En. Mohd Nadziruddin in turn placed on record the company’s appreciation to NGO Antarabangsa in reaching out to handover the boxes to AeroDarat. “We believe this assistance is indeed helpful to the staff who are impacted by the pandemic and hopefully their preparation to celebrate Hari Raya would be more meaningful”, he added.
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan Salam Sejahtera,
Dear All,
Labour Day celebration in Malaysia has a history dating back to the 1970s. On 20th May 1972, Tun Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman, the then Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia announced May 1 as Labour Day, a special day to commemorate the contributions of workers to nation building. The first official celebration took place a year later and after more than 40 years, the tradition continues in an ever-changing landscape.
AeroDarat is blessed with dedicated people who are willing to go extra miles and would not miss a beat to ensure a safe, secure and reliable service is delivered to our customers as promised. I am proud to have all of you on and I sincerely thank all of you for your continuous dedication and commitment.
The road ahead is still long and could get bumpy. Nonetheless, the journey can be remarkably rewarding when we get together around the same goal and hold dear to the values of being Genuine, Efficient and Progressive. This commitment is the manifestation of our labour of love that in turn translates into values to those we serve. The ones that make us unique and stand out from the rest.
I wish all of you Happy Labour Day and as always, stay safe and keep well.
In transforming current business processes through digital integration, AeroDarat Services’ cross-functional team comprises of Finance, Hub Control Center/TRC and the respective Operations teams have successfully launched the electronic Aircraft Handling Acknowledgement Note (e-AHAN) application on 15 March 2021.
The project which replaced the manual pen and paper function for AHAN aims to shorten the time taken for billing process from an average of 17 to 26 days down to 10 days only – a staggering 41% to 62% improvement!
How is this even possible? The answer lies on three key drivers introduced by e-AHAN, namely precise recording of services rendered at source, automated service report submission to customers and systematic record keeping for reference. These not only lead to internal process improvement and efficiency but also subsequently enhance customer service by shortening billing process and minimising disputes.
Kickstarted in July 2020, this project comes in four phases. The first rollout is for FOCA customers in which two online briefing sessions were conducted led by Business Development Unit on 8th and 9th March 2021. In the next several phases, this application will be extended to MH flights, MAG subsidiaries and overall ADS services. Congratulations ADS project team for a job well done!
On 13th March 2019, we rolled out the red carpet to greet the South Korean President Moon Jae-in who arrived for a three-day state visit. The special chartered aircraft carrying President Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, landed at the KL International Airport (KLIA) at 12.40 pm. Our foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who is appointed as the Minister-in-Attendance, and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking were on the tarmac to welcomed President Moon.
During this visit, President Kim will meet with our Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir and will be witnessing the signing of four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) involving industrial cooperation relating to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), cooperation in the field of transportation and the development of a Smart City in Malaysia, as well as cooperation in the halal industry.
Chinese New Year is back again this year. As we look forward to this New Year, let us also reflect on our valued friendships and not forgetting our Foreign Carrier Airlines (FOCA) who made us their preferred ground handler. As a token of appreciation to our FOCA, AeroDarat Services Business Development Team distributed box of Mandarin Oranges few days before Chinese New Year celebration.
Therefore, on this year, we hope that we will consistently delivering high quality ground experience, with safe, secure and reliable operations for our FOCA
After a challenging competitive bidding process by the IAG Group between AeroDarat Services against its competitors such as POS Aviation and Ground Team Red (GTR), another milestone is achieved. AeroDarat Services won a five-year Ground Handling Services Contract from British Airways and was appointed effective from 01st January 2019. The awarded contract is inclusive of Ground Handling, Cargo Handling and Lounge Services. With this five-year contract by British Airways, it is proof that they have confidence in AeroDarat Services.
