Top employer award for Manchester Airport special assistance team

The team which provides special assistance services for passengers travelling through Manchester Airport has received the top company accolade from facilities services provider ABM.

ABM, which provides PRM (Passenger with Reduced Mobility) services to airports across the UK, awarded its Manchester team with its overall company award. Chosen from 40 nominees, the awards ceremony took place in London following five regional events around the UK & Ireland.  

As well as the main “One ABM” award, the PRM team also took home a “Team of the Year” prize. The awards were given in recognition of the outstanding achievements the team has delivered over the past year.  

In September 2023 the special assistance team experienced their busiest month in history, with more passengers than ever before travelling with assistance requirements. Despite the increased footfall, the team successfully met 98% of its pre-booked passengers within 10 minutes of arrival – an outstanding result. The team’s performance puts them on track to retain their ‘Very Good’ rating which was awarded to them by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2023. A ‘Very Good’ rating is the highest category achievable. 

Michelle Baxter, General Manager at ABM, commented:

“Airports are melting pots of emotions with goodbyes, reunions and the excitement of holiday all experienced there daily. This is especially true for those travelling with special assistance requirements who will already have some level of nervousness about their journey: the service our PRM teams deliver is of the utmost importance.   

“With record volumes of passengers with reduced mobility travelling through the airport – not all of whom are pre-booked for assistance – the team’s performance is commendable. We have a duty of care to understand the needs of passengers travelling with reduced mobility and hidden disabilities and our Manchester PRM team have demonstrated excellence in those services.” 

The team’s success included an investment from ABM in its PRM operations. After a nationwide safety audit was undertaken, two significant opportunities were identified to mitigate the risk of wheelchair incidents. As a result, ABM purchased 300 new lap strap belts and a new training method was introduced to better simulate weight shift when using an aisle chair.

New wheelchairs and buggies were also introduced and an electric minibus will arrive in time for the summer peak. In addition, two new Aviogei Thunderlifts 6000Es have been deployed at Manchester Airport. The fully electric boarding vehicle offers enhanced comfort and safety with its newly designed cabin and state of the art safety technology.

Ed Kibblewhite, PRM Contract Manager at Manchester Airport Group, said:

“We’re delighted that the ABM PRM team at Manchester Airport has been recognised with two awards for its strong performance this year supporting our assisted customers. Manchester Airport introduced new service targets this year along with additional funding and the ABM team worked tirelessly to ensure these were converted into improved customer journeys, resulting in some of the highest PRM satisfaction scores since 2019.”