Ground staff
Everyone who works a flight from the ground — check-in, gate, ramp, loading, cleaning and fuelling — as opposed to the operating crew.
Definition
Ground staff are the airport-based teams that prepare, load and release a flight: check-in and gate agents, the ramp crew who load bags and cargo, the turnaround coordinator or dispatcher, cleaners, caterers and fuellers. Many are employed by handling agents rather than the airline itself. The gate agent is the ground staff member cabin crew deal with most, handing over the passenger figures and any special-needs information before boarding.
What it means for you
A turnaround is a hand-off between ground staff and crew, and it fails at the seams: the passenger count that does not match the manifest, the wheelchair passenger nobody mentioned, the catering that is short. Knowing who to call for each problem — and treating the gate agent as a colleague rather than a subordinate — is what keeps a 25-minute turnaround on time and your name off the delay report.
In practice
On a 25-minute Ryanair turnaround the number one takes the final figures from the gate agent at the door while the ramp crew are still closing the hold, and the flight cannot push until both sets of paperwork agree.
Related terms
4 terms- DispatcherRoles & ranksTwo jobs share the name: the licensed planner who prepares and co-signs each flight, and the ground coordinator running a turnaround.
- Load controllerRoles & ranksThe specialist who calculates the aircraft's weight and balance and issues the loadsheet the captain must accept before departure.
- TurnaroundRoster & schedulingThe ground time between an aircraft's arrival and its next departure, and by extension a duty that goes out and comes straight back.
- BoardingFlight operationsThe period from the first passenger stepping aboard until the door closes — the busiest and, historically, least paid part of the job.