Airline Catering Services

Airline Catering Services

• produce meal
portions served in the
airline’s flights and
passenger lounges as
well as meal portions
of foreign airlines
2 Major players before 911

• LSG Sky Chefs of

Lufthansa

• Gate Gourmet of
the SR Group
 After 911
• In-flight meal service
dropped drastically.

• Distribution of airline
catering contracts among
service providers became
more widely spread.
 PAL Catering Services
• 1978: Cruz administration built an In-flight
Kitchen
• Total operating cost is no higher than 3%
• Categorized as a four-star airline when it comes
to catering
• Before closure of PAL (’98): PAL was the
biggest caterer of foreign airlines in the country
(30 client airlines)
• Today: 5 or 6 client airlines
>other service providers:
MIASCOR
MacroAsia
 Duties & Responsibilities of PAL
Catering Services
• produce meal portions served in the
airline’s flights and passenger lounges and
meal portions of foreign airlines
• source materials and supplies necessary
to support the approved menu
• deal with in-flight sales
• use and maintain catering trucks
Concerns of PAL Catering Services
• aging facilities
• modern trend: catering as an outsourced
function
• keeping industrial peace within the airline
>physically-challenged individuals in its
catering assembly lines
• pilferage and theft in the catering and in-
flight sales storage
 PAL’s options
• continue with its
catering services

OR

• take on the new trend

in the industry where
catering has become
one of the attractive
candidate for spin-off
(outsource) sayaw
FLIGHT OPERATIONS

 Cabin Services & Crew

Scheduling
 Flight Training
 FLIGHT OPERATIONS

• organization of Flight Operations in

most other airlines is simple and
straightforward
• operation where aircraft assigned to the
flight shall have given its appropriate
checks
• airworthiness of the aircraft is assured
• aircraft is taxied out and airborne
 Chief Pilot

• reports to the department head

• each type of aircraft is normally put under
his care
• see to it that pilots within his division are
kept proficient in their type of aircraft and
the necessary licenses and recurrent
trainings are up-to-date
• usually do check rides to observe pilots
while in actual flight mission
 QUALIFICATIONS OF ALL MEMBERS OF
A FLIGHT DECK CREW

• should pass strict training and

qualification courses
• should have accumulated the experience
that the positions required
• should be licensed by the ATO and by
aviation authorities of the countries in
w/c leased aircrafts are registered
AIR TRANSPORT RATING (ATR)
- required for captains
COMMERCIAL PILOT’S LICENSE (CPL)
- required for others

• Licenses are issued or renewed only upon

proof of competence and physical fitness.
• Renewal is twice a year for ATR holders &
once a year for CPL holders.
CABIN SERVICES & CREW SCHEDULING

Cabin Services
- handled by a
complement of stewardesses and
stewards
 Cabin Crewmember

• a person trained and ready to act correctly and

promptly in any emergency
• undergoes recurrent training at least once a year
• must demonstrate competence in first aid,
lifesaving techniques and survival swimming
each time
• required to qualify in classroom session and in-
flight duty on aircraft type they would be
reassigned to
Domestic Crewmember
- qualified in all domestic
aircrafts

International Crewmember
- qualified in all international
aircrafts
 7 Major Functional Areas in the
Cycle of Cabin Services
• Planning
• Clearing
• Dispatch
• Transportation
• Monitoring
• Budget/Logistics
• Cashier/Accounting
 CREW SCHEDULING

Manual Scheduling
- very complicated
process and complexity results to
rising of malpractices in many
airlines today
CARMEN Crew Scheduling
System

- supposed to be a
complete system and definitely
much more comprehensive and
technically advanced than Selective
Bidding System (SBS)
 FLIGHT TRAINING

Simulators
- replicas of the aircraft flight
decks w/c accurately recreate the
motions and even the sounds of aircraft
in flight
 Timeline

• 1920’s – concept of a simulator is

introduced
• 1927 & 1929- Ed Link paved the way by
inventing the Link Trainer
• 1951- FlightSafety was established when
electronic simulation was relentlessly
pursued w/ the use of analogue
computers
• 1960’s – advent of digital computers and
use of hydraulics for motion simulation to
be perfected
• - GE developed the 1st image
generation system that completed the
concept of today’s simulator
• 2001-PC-based system called SimFinity
was developed
Link Trainer
- basic aircraft mechanically
activated w/ the use of pneumatic
machine similar to the one in the piano
and organ business but crude and far
from real motion simulator
Maintenance/Flight Training
Device (M/FTD)
- the invention means that
monitoring aspects of maintenance and
engineering of the aircraft can be done
on the ground at the nearest simulation
site of the airline
Cockpit Resource
Management
 Cockpit Resource Management (CRM)
- the effective utilization of all available
resources, information, equipment and human
ability to achieve a safe and efficient flight
operation.

Cause of aircraft accidents:

BEFORE: unreliability of the flying machines
TODAY: 75% traced to human errors
 “At least 77 accidents have been classified
with CRM factors as primary or contributing
cause.”
-Sams, 1987

Early Stage of CRM

1. dismissed as a scheme to benefit some
psychotherapists
2. just a passing phase in the training of
pilots
Cockpit Voice recorders (CVR)
-used to record apparent clashes between
pilots.

Line-Oriented Flight Training

- video feedbacks allows pilots to review and
assess their behavior along with overall crew
effectiveness.
THE CAPTAIN
 a manager and custodian of authority
 the ultimate decision-maker on an aircraft
 delegates authority

“The best captains are the most well-liked

because the rest of the crew works hard to
please him and to feel as though they have
let the captain down personally if they
make a mistake.”
-Sams, 1987
TEAMWORK
Team – a group pf people working together to
achieve a common goal.

“When an accident does occur, more often

than not, it s because team coordination
deteriorated.”
-Reingold, 1989

“It is the team not the aircraft that is the

root of most accidents.”
-Hackman, 1993
 Factors that Differentiate Outstanding Crews:
1. The development of team skills
2. selection practices

“54% of the pilots said that the major factor in crew

management problems was the unacceptable
behavior of the other pilots.”
“Nearly 40% of the copilots said they have on several
occasions failed to communicate with the captain
their doubts about operations of the aircraft because
of a desire to avoid conflict.”
-Wheale, 1983
The Importance of CRM:

x The 747 collision at Tenerlife when a KLM 747

tried to take off from a foggy runway occupied
by a taxing Pan Am 747.
x Crashing of Delta Airlines flight 1141 shortly
after take off from runway 18L at Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport.
 Evergreen’s Boeing 747 freighter took off
from Anchorage International Airport.
BEFORE CRM:
The pilot covers up his mistake.

AFTER CRM:
The pilot discloses his mistake.

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT:
“Having a light and relieved feeling at having
unburdened and purged out the guilt!”
MAINTENANCE AND
ENGINEERING
(M&E)
DEPARTMENT
 (M&E) DEPARTMENT
• PAL spends more than 1 billion annually for
the upkeep of its aircraft to ensure flight
safety
• M&E was the largest with 2,600 men and
women in its ranks
 FOUR FUNCTIONS

Maintenance
• handles the fleet at the line to make sure they are
positioned, properly serviced and ready for their
assigned flights, both domestically and internationally

• comprised of aircraft, aircraft interior, engine,

electronics, accessories and parts overhaul
 FOUR FUNCTIONS

Administrative

• production control, guarantee and warranty

management and maintenance contract
evaluation; handling and supervision
 FOUR FUNCTIONS

Engineering

• delves on the establishment, maintenance and updating of

manuals, procedures, technical documents, methodologies,
technical training and exercises control functions such as
planning and controlling the aircraft maintenance schedules
and operating the online and automated system
 FOUR FUNCTIONS

Quality Control

• perform aircraft and shop inspections and

maintain a quality assurance program and
maintenance of all sensitive records
 MAINTAINING
THE FLEET
• all parts of an airplane, from the airframe and
engines to tiny switches, have specific periods
of service between overhauls during which
they must be inspected and repaired or
replaced if necessary.
 MAINTAINING
THE FLEET

• civil air regulations and manufacturer

manuals make all such inspections, checks
and overhauls mandatory
 MAINTAINING
THE FLEET
• like pilots, mechanics are required by
authorities to undergo training before regular
employment and must pass recurrent trainings
periodically. They are also licensed by ATO.
 CERTIFICATE OF
AIRWORTHINESS
• each aircraft carries these, issued by the civil aviation authorities
of the countries in which the aircraft is registered

• renewed only upon finding that the operator has satisfactorily

complied with all of the maintenance and safety requirements for
the aircraft. Otherwise, the certificate is withdrawn and the aircraft
is grounded
 BASIC AIRLINE M&E
OPERATION FUNCTION
Operation Group

Maintenance and Engineering

Shop Aircraft Engineering & Quality

Services Maintenance Technical Control
 OPERATIONS
CONTROL CENTER
• nerve center of all airlines’ line operations

• the ‘cockpit to an aircraft’ where the total activity

within the aircraft and communications with outside
world is coordinated and controlled
 OPERATIONS
CONTROL CENTER
• all line units have direct communications with OCC 24 hours a
day. All the domestic and international stations are also linked
with OCC (e.g. via satellite communications for aircraft in flight,
hotlines for ground offices, online communications through web
and commercial telecommunications)
 OPERATIONS
CONTROL CENTER
• provides flight plans for the flights

• monitors the progress of each flight

(Fleet Watch)
 OPERATIONS
CONTROL CENTER
• very difficult but always full of excitement (from
bomb threats, hijackings, airport closure due to
arrival or departure of heads of states, an aircraft
being stuck on the runway and many other causes)