Stylised map of world with 'business continuity' related words and symbols placed upon it

Aviation Business Continuity Planning

e.g. for Airlines, Airports, Ground Handlers etc.

 

Airlines (Aircraft Operators) – Business Continuity Planning

Referring to the above titles, perhaps all we need to mention here (putting the subject into some context) is volcanic ash

During this 2010 mass disruption event affecting much of Northern Europe for almost a week, over 10 million airline passengers were stranded or otherwise unable to take their desired flights. Estimated loss of revenue to aircraft operators – USD $1.7 billion

As a general concept, the small number of involved passenger airlines already having robust and well rehearsed business continuity plans (BCP) in place (i.e. before the volcanic ash cloud closed most of Northern Europe’s airspace for a considerable period) almost certainly handled the subsequent disruption response in a significantly more effective and efficient manner – than airlines with no or non-effective BCPs

For the former (airlines with effective BCPs) – there is good reason to believe (with considerable substance) that there was a subsequent positive ‘spin-off’ – in that public perception of how well (relatively speaking – given the circumstances) such airlines performed was directly related to increased customer loyalty – leading to repeat business

Business Continuity Planning for Airports

Referring again to volcanic ash, airports (especially in N Europe) did not get away with it either – associated losses estimated at around 250 million euros

It is noteworthy that whilst some airports are able to operate almost normally in snow and ice conditions, others (year after year) cannot – the latter causing massive misery for air travellers and financial (and possibly brand / image / reputation) loss by such airports and perhaps (due the knock-on effect) the aircraft operators serving them also

Whilst it is probable that many airports in the latter category do, in fact, have BCPs for dealing with snow and ice related disruption, they (the plans) simply do not seem to work adequately enough ‘on the day’

The latter is a good example of where simply ‘having a BCP’ in place is not sufficient – i.e. it also needs to be ‘trained, tested, maintained and improved’ – on a continual cycle basis. Acquisition and effective deployment of appropriate resources is also a prime BCP consideration

Another example of where business continuity planning etc. for airport operators is a worthwhile investment relates to how many new airports / airport terminals etc. open – only to find that essential resources fail to function ‘as advertised’ – particularly automated baggage sorting systems!

Airport business continuity planning,  if adequately applied, should identify (& hopefully remedy / mitigate to the desired extent, insofar as is possible) the adverse impacts of all such potential problems before they can occur. Then, when / if such problems do occur, the BCP is applied in order to reduce the adverse impacts of any associated disruption and to better facilitate a return to normal airport operations without undue delay

Business Continuity Planning for Ground Handling Operators

Typically, the GHA can expect to become involved with the business continuity problems of client aircraft operators + the parent airport – in addition to any GHA specific  business continuity matters. How well (or otherwise) the GHA performs under adverse business continuity circumstances can directly impact on contract acquisition / retention

BCP – Solutions & Services

Despite the obvious need for (airline, airport, GHA etc.) BCPs and associated resources to be in place and 100% ready to go (i.e. ‘fit for purpose’, trained, exercised, maintained etc.) – relatively few of such organisations have 1). – BCPs in place and fewer still will 2). – have BCPs which actually work as required ‘on the day’

In a ‘worst case’ scenario, lack of same can seriously damage any such organisation financially and / or have a significantly adverse impact on brand, image, reputation etc.

‘Aviation Emergency Response Plan Solutions’ (AERPS) is one of very few aviation related contingency planning consultants in the world – able to deal with all and any aspects of associated business continuity matters

For example, all aspects of pre-planning, documentation, resourcing, implementation, training, exercising, maintenance and review are included – being typically aligned (as appropriate to client requirements) with the leading international standard on business continuity planning – ISO 22301:2019 – which is, in turn, based on guidance provided by its supporting standard – ISO 22313:2020

Our (Aviation Related) – BCP Model Guideline (preparation) Document

We have spent hundreds of manhours over recent years in developing our aviation (airline / airport / GHA etc. generic) related BCP model guideline document – which can be used for producing your own equivalents of the documents linked to in the ‘Read more’ box shown just below. For aviation purposes specifically, these guidelines are absolutely ‘best of kind’ – and nothing else remotely like them currently (2024) exists:

CRPM Part 3 / Volume 1 (Aviation Related BCP – Intro / Background) is available by clicking HERE

CRPM Part 3 / Volume 2 (The associated ‘detail’) is available by clicking HERE

CRPM Part 3 is  also available via this website’s ‘FREE DOCUMENTS‘ page dropdown menu – sitting under titles ‘AIRLINE ERP-GUIDELINES‘ and (separately) ‘AIRPORT AEP-GUIDELINES‘

If we can assist you with any of the above, then please do contact us

Requests for WORD versions of PDF Documents

Please also contact us if WORD versions (of PDF format documents found on this website) are required. You are reminded of our terms and conditions regarding use of same

Satellite image - gigantic volcanic ash / dust cloud over W Europe - 2010
AVIATION RELATED BC PLAN

Business Continuity Management (BCM) means ‘staying in business’ in the event of a major, disruptive occurrence e.g…………………

  • A local disruptive event e.g. a building fire; local flooding etc.
  • A regional disruption e.g. earthquake, flooding, volcanic eruption, epidemic (e.g. Ebola 2014-16), industrial action etc.
  • A global disruption e.g. pandemic (COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-22 being an example)

All of the above (and many other types of disruption event) can and have adversely affected aviation related operations

To achieve ‘what is required’, BCM requires an organisation (e.g. airline, airport, GHA, MRO [aircraft engineering] etc.) to pre-consider what the adverse impacts might be (on itself + associated stakeholders) if the delivery of its key services / product / operations etc. is exposed to a significant level of disruption, for a significant period of time

(Note – this ‘pre-consider‘ operation is commonly known as ‘risk management‘. The latter and ‘business continuity‘ are [in general] inextricably linked – and form part of an overarching concept known as ‘contingency planning‘)

Once potential adverse impacts have been identified (there will always be at least some) – the next step is ‘to plan to do something about them‘ – should they actually occur (be realised)

e.g. produce an appropriate BC plan; resource it; train it; exercise it; review it and improve it – all on a continual cycle basis

See opposite for more details

Sidebar Image: EUMET SAT