United Airlines enters ground handler market

There was another development in the fast-changing ground handling industry today when United Airlines announced it had decided to enter the market.
United Ground Express, which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of United, will provide ground handling services including customer service, station operations, and ramp and cargo services at select airports around United’s domestic system.
The company will begin operations in the Autumn, but a new website is already active to help drive recruitment, with positions for general managers and customer service agents advertised.
The fragmented ground-handling industry is going through a dramatic shake-up at present with several acquisition deals announced over recent weeks.
At the end of July, China’s HNA Group swooped on Swissport in a Sfr2.73bn deal and dnata announced it had struck a deal to acquire Aviapartner’s cargo handling operations at Schiphol airport and Worldwide Flight Services revealed plans to purchase a 51% shareholding in Fraport Cargo services.