Penauille Servisair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.
This article has been tagged since March 2007.

Penauille Servisair is an aircraft ground handling company, offering ground services at 175 airports worldwide. It is a subsidiary of Penauille Polyservices, a commercial outsourcing firm, one of Europe's leading providers of cleaning and maintenance services.

Servisair began business as a subsidiary of the British and Commonwealth Shipping Company and on 7 July 1952, the first location was opened in Manchester as Manchester Airport Agencies. In 1986, Servisair opened its first European location when it acquired a ground handling company in Rotterdam. Overseas operations continued to expand when representation services began in Portugal in 1986, Spain in 1987 and Ireland in 1989. Servisair continued to expand their presence in the UK, Ireland and Europe by providing ground handling and cargo services.

In 1999, Servisair USA was formed and in 2000, they acquired two US ground handling businesses - Cleveland based Global and Dallas/Fort Worth based Tri-Star Aviation Services giving it a presence in 18 US cities. In the same year, Servisair entered the African ground handling market with an exclusive license to provide passenger, aircraft and cargo handling at Eros Airport in Windhoek and Namibia, Servisair wholly owned subsidiary.

GlobeGround was founded in February 1990 as Lufthansa Airport and Ground Services, GmbH (LAGS). In December 1998, LAGS was re-branded as GlobeGround GmbH. In March 1999, to expand operations into North America, GlobeGround purchased Hudson General Corporation (to become GlobeGround North America LLC), who provided aviation services at over twenty (20) airports in North America.

A leading French business group, Penauille, acquired Servisair in May 1999 and in July 2001 they purchased GlobeGround to compliment the previous purchase. In addition to its aviation interests, Penauille is involved in a number of other businesses including facility services, security and engineering services. In May 2003, to take advantage of greater operating and overhead efficiencies, Servisair and GlobeGround were combined to become one company. Servisair/GlobeGround launched its new brand identity at the IATA Ground Handling Conference in South Africa and collectively the organization provided services worldwide.

In 2005 CFF Recycling became the major shareholder of the Penauille Group, before totally acquiring it in June 2006. Established in 1956, CFF Recycling provides the collection, sorting, processing, recycling and re-use of 5.7 million tons of ferrous and non-ferrous metals each year. For Servisair/GlobeGround this alliance would allow for the creation of a new entity with a financial base that is in line with industrial goals, enabling them to consolidate their financial position and to have the necessary resources for development.

January 2006 saw Servisair/GlobeGround become Penauille Servisair. The newly named handling company developed a clear ambition, new brand identity, and a set of concrete action plans. The company aims to innovate constantly, and offer solutions that help airlines and airports implement their strategies at the best value for money. This newly shared ambition is part of the new identity of Penauille Servisair, which marks its belonging to one group and links them to their history.

Penauille Servisair’s team of over 22,000 dedicated employees look after the specific and diverse needs of their 700 Airline Customers and 102 million passengers. With expertise in more than 140 locations around the world, Penauille Servisair is now the world’s leading operator in aviation ground services, managing more than 1.4 million aircraft movements per year and processing 825,000 tonnes of cargo. March 7,2007 the company dropped Penauille from its name and will be rebranding to Servisair. The official website has been changed . The Old GlobeGround Logo has been retained using various shades of blue.

Servisair have aligned their business into five distinct service lines:

- Ground Handling - Airport Services - Cargo - Fuelling - Lounges

In each market, an integrated ground service is offered which, through adding value, contribute to the development of Customer activities, be they airlines or airports, by meeting the expectations of their Customers, be they passengers or shippers.

"Building on more than 50 years expertise and experience developed locally, Servisair apply their service offerings globally, to become genuine partners to their Customers across their networks." Whilst that is the official line from the company, it is still known, sometimes affectionately, by the nicknames "Serviscare" "Service is Scarce" or "Circusair".

Servisair is well noted for the low wages it pays and staff retention issues. The retention issue has been addressed, however the low wages continue. Servisair is known industry wide as a starting point for staff who want to get into the aviation industry and progress elsewhere. Be it at an airline or an airport authority. Servisair's wage structure has improved greatly and is now in line with Market Value of the industry it serves.