When an aircraft cannot wait

The situation

AOG means aircraft on ground: the aircraft is grounded until one specific part is fitted. Every hour of that has a schedule behind it, and the part is usually not missing in the world, only missing at that airport.

The freight problem is rarely the flight. It is the two ends. The part has to be collected from an air cargo facility, released, and driven to the aircraft, and cargo does not leave a facility because it landed. It leaves when someone is physically there with the paperwork.

What we do

We treat the recovery as the job, not as an errand at the end of the job. We go to the air cargo facility, handle the release, and move the part straight to where the aircraft is.

When the part still has to fly, it moves next-flight-out: booked on the first departure it physically fits on, rather than the first one that is convenient. On the ground at both ends, a dedicated vehicle is already assigned, so the part is not waiting for a truck to be found after it lands.

Everything runs through one dispatcher who is watching the flight and both ground legs, and who calls at pickup, at departure, on landing and at delivery.

Why it works

Most AOG delay is not flying time, it is the gap between landing and leaving the facility. Having a driver present with the release paperwork closes that gap. It is also why the ground legs cannot be subcontracted blindly: the person collecting has to know what to do when the facility says the cargo is not ready yet.

If you are in this position right now

Call with the airport code, the airway bill number if the part is already moving, and the size of the piece. If it has landed, we can usually tell you on that call whether the delay is the facility or the paperwork, which decides what happens next.

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