Mr
Alex Hungate, President and CEO of SATS,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
Good evening. I am happy to join you to celebrate SATS’ achievement of
two “First in the World” milestones: the Technical Ramp Smart Watch project and
SATS' accreditation as an International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Authorized Training Center for Ramp Handling.
Innovating to Build a Changi for the Future
2. These
initiatives by SATS reaffirm how our Changi Airport family is constantly
innovating and seeking ways to improve. In the process, Changi enhances its
standing as an efficient airport for passengers and airlines, and provides a
better working environment for our airport workers.
3.
Earlier, I had the opportunity to try the Smart Watch. I found it easy to
use. In the past, apron workers had to make multiple trips to the ramp control
centre for updates on flight information and printouts of job assignments. With
the Smart Watch, workers can now access flight information and receive
real-time job assignments from anywhere on the apron. They no longer have
to travel back to the control centre. The Smart Watch is the first of several
projects being rolled out as part of the broader Smart Apron programme launched
by the Changi community earlier this year. This programme will allow devices
and applications to tap on the recently announced Wi-Fi network in the apron
area.
4.
In addition to the Smart Watch, I understand that SATS will equip apron workers
with Bluetooth bone-conductor headsets. I am told that these innovative
headsets allow workers to listen to instructions even with their safety
earplugs on, as the sound is conducted through bone! With these headsets, apron
workers can communicate hands-free without walkie-talkies. This will minimise
the risk of airside traffic incidents and enhance the safety of the apron
working environment.
5.
I spoke earlier to Mr Neo Ser Tat, a Technical Ramp Duty Manager. Ser Tat tells
me that he supervises a team of 120 ramp staff. At peak hours, he has to manage
up to 45 flights, which can be extremely challenging. With the Smart Watch, Ser
Tat will have better situational awareness, and real-time visibility of the
ground situation, and he feels that he can make better decisions. And with the
bone-conductor headsets, he can convey clearer instructions to his team
members.
6.
We want to see more innovations like the Smart Watch and bone-conductor
headsets. Other key transformation projects underway include the Aviation
Challenges to encourage the adoption of robotics and autonomous technologies
for both baggage and cargo handling. This competition-based programme has
attracted teams from both industry and academia, and the shortlisted teams will
be showcasing their prototypes next year.
7.
In July this year, we also introduced the Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) Fund.
The Fund awards grants to airlines to help defray costs in implementing
passenger self-service initiatives rolled out by the Changi Airport
Group. This includes check-in kiosks, bag-drop systems and self-boarding
gates. These initiatives help improve productivity and enhance our passenger
handling capacity. They also free up staff to focus on more value-adding tasks,
such as assisting passengers with complex itineraries. Initial results have
been very encouraging, with participating airlines achieving manpower savings
of up to 20% at their check-in counters. I hope more airlines will tap on the
FAST Fund to drive productivity improvements in passenger handling. In fact,
our upcoming Terminal 4 will be equipped with even newer self-service
features. I look forward to trying them myself.
8.
So as you can see, we are making a big push to prepare Changi for the future.
We will continue to work with our partners, including the Air Transport
Sectoral Tripartite Committee, to push the innovation frontier.
Good Jobs for Singaporeans
9.
Even with greater use of automation and other productivity-enhancing
initiatives, the aviation sector’s need for talent and manpower will continue
to grow, thanks to the strong growth of air transport in the Asia-Pacific. In
Singapore, we expect about 5,000 jobs to be created throughout the sector next
year, ranging from airline cabin crew and maintenance engineers, to airport
passenger service, security and operations management staff. These jobs will be
available to those fresh out of school, as well as those switching careers from
other industries.
10.
As for workers already in the sector, we will continue to invest in training to
equip them with the skills to meet the challenges of tomorrow. In this context,
I am happy to learn that IATA has granted SATS the world’s first Authorized
Training Center accreditation for Ramp Services. With this accreditation, SATS
will train ground handling staff with the most up-to-date, best practices. The
programme will also support the standardisation of aircraft handling procedures
among airlines, reducing the need for airline-specific aircraft handling
processes. This will not only improve operational efficiency and
productivity, but also safety.
11.
I had the opportunity just now to also speak to Mr Andre Spykerman, who has
benefitted from this programme. Andre is 32 this year. He had held various
technical and engineering positions outside the aviation industry, before
making the mid-career switch to join SATS in April. Just last month, Andre
completed his IATA-certified training as one of the 12 trainers for Ramp
Handling. Andre is now able to train not just ground handlers in Singapore, but
those based in other parts of Southeast Asia as well. Andre tells me that he is
excited to be part of this pioneer batch of certified trainers. My warmest
congratulations to Andre.
Conclusion
12. Once again, let me congratulate SATS for these two accomplishments. I look
forward to many more innovations from SATS, and from the aviation sector in
general, to increase the efficiency of our airport, and to make the jobs in our
airport even more attractive.
13.
Thank you.