Who are those people outside

CLICK HERE TO READ THE TERMS OF USE/DISCLAIMER

I look outside of the terminal wondering.

Who are those people I see walking on the ramp?

Who are those people I see walking on the ramp?

Bagage handling ofcourse we know that the luggage needs to be put onboard and taken offboard. Most companies have this work carried out by local ground handlers on that airport. These are the most obviously spotted people out on the ramp and have one of the physically most demanding jobs on the airfield.	Catering Before each flight, the catering department makes sure that the crew's onboard the aircraft get the meals they ordered. Catering mostly has to be done from early in the morning to late in the evening to make sure that the fresh products stay fresh.	Ramp officers The different airline companies have different functions and different names for them but for the majority of the airlines have somebody responsible for the aircraft ground handling to ensure the departure times are met, the luggage get's on board, the load plan (plan to calculate the weight and so determine the center of gravity of the aircraft, wich is important for obvious reasons) is delivered to the crew etc. These 'duty officers', 'agents', 'red-caps' are usually the central point on the ramp concerning the ground handling of the aircraft concerning freight and luggage.	Refuelling The refuelling department is responsible for re- or defuelling the aircraft. The flight crew together with their operational department calculate their required fuel plus reserves for their next trip. Normally this figure is enough to take off with the calculated weight of the airplane (including the fuel ofcourse) and then calculating along the whole stretch of the flight at each point how close the closest emergency available landing spot is. The aircraft must ofcourse be able to reach the destination but must also be able to go into a holding pattern or even divert to another available airport if needs be.


Bus Drivers On most airports not all the aircraft stands have jetbridges (some have none at all). In this case busses are used to carry passengers to their aircraft. On arrival at the aircraft stand the passengers are then led into the airplane by means of an onboard 'airstairs' or by ground stairs supplied by the ground handling department.	Flight crew Before departure the flight crew makes certain that after all the handlings are carried out the airplane is in a airworthy state. This inspection is carried out as late as possible but usually before the passengers board. After this inspection they are also charged with flying the plane to the destination airport ofcourse.	Towing department On most airports airlines are not permitted to perform a 'pushback' from the gate using their own aircraft engines in their reversed thrust settings. They must be pushed back from the gate by a push back truck. These aircraft towers are also responsible for towing aircraft across the airport to the hangers and to push them inside the hangers for maintenance. The tow truck in this picture is a so called towbarless wich means it directly lifts the airplane by picking up the aircraft by the nosewheels rather then using a towbar to connect the truck to the aircraft.	Ground engineers The ground engineers are responsible for the technical handling of the aircraft. They inspect the aircraft and if there are any defects they will repair them or make a plan to repair it at a more convenient time.