ECS Group pays tribute to ground handlers’ essential work during virus outbreak

Roissy Charles de Gaulle (CDG) cargo handler Global Services Handling (GSH) has been handling an increasing number of freighter flights following the coronavirus outbreak.

Alluding to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the aviation sector, the handler’s parent company ECS highlighted the “essential nature of handling teams, without whom airfreight forwarding would quite simply be impossible”.

The pandemic, which has caused extremely low demand in passenger travel, has spurred airline to do everything they can to offer more capacity: increasing the number of all-cargo flights, converting passenger aircraft into freighters, demonstrating greater flexibility, and more – which, ECS said, makes handling agents vital players in ensuring the continuity of the supply chain.

“Without them, it would be impossible to receive and load cargo, which in turn would also make air freight forwarding impossible”, the GSSA said.

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ECS also noted the flexibility demonstrated by GSH staff, as flight schedules continue to fluctuate from day to day.

“With extra flights being operated and others postponed, cancelled or delayed for regular flights and even more so for repatriation and all-cargo flights, flexibility and versatility are essential,” ECS explained.

Pierre Perez, managing director at GSH, commented: “As in all sectors, we need to reorganize the way we work because of the crisis, with one further difficulty: remote working isn’t possible with goods handling.

“Our staff levels are down by around 25%, but we are continuing to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are 100% operational thanks to our extremely hard-working employees.

“Our priority is still to make sure that cargo leaves and arrives in total safety.”

Perez added: ““We’re all pulling together – we know that our work is essential in order to transport goods and keep the local and global economy running. Helping to save lives by transporting medical products is also a real source of motivation.”