Airport Ramp Risk Analysis and Management System

Abstract

The aviation industry is experiencing intense interest in the safety of handling operations at airports. This is because of the level of risk exposure identified in this area, the exposure of expensive aircraft to such high levels of risk, and the increasingly high cost of ramp accidents. The costs to the industry are becoming unacceptable; a global estimate has been made by Boeing of $2 billion per year to airlines. To minimize these costs and control the level of ramp accidents, an overall ramp safety management system approach is required that involves risk analysis and risk management. Risk analysis involves establishing the organization's risk profile, and risk management encompasses the various measures that can be implemented to minimize accidents, control loss, and transfer risk by insurance on the basis of the identified risk profile of an organization. A systems approach to ground handling risk analysis and a description of a spreadsheet-based model developed at Lough-borough University for ramp risk management within an organization, such as an airport, airline, or ground handling agent, are presented. The work has been carried out in response to the demonstrated need of industry to control in a systematic manner rapidly rising ramp accident costs that are currently almost universally treated as an unavoidable cost marginal to the core business.