EasyJet 2011 Annual Report Download - page 35

easyJet plc
Annual report
and accounts 2011
Corporate responsibilityPerformance and risk
Overview Business review Governance Accounts & other information
33
The Safety Management System (SMS) launched in
2009 has continued to extend its influence across the
organisation to ensure that the highest standards of
safety risk management and oversight are embedded
in everything that we do. We have now successfully
embedded the concept of Operational Readiness and
this process now applies to all our major operational
initiatives such as the ground de-icing programme.
During 2011 we configured a number of SMS tools and
carried out a range of activities. We are in the process
of integrating our bespoke safety data system into our
operations. easyJet has developed the capability to
generate risk based safety oversight through the use of
intelligent systems. These new initiatives will deliver
further cost efficiencies whilst maintaining high levels
ofsafety.
As an acknowledged leader in the field of Fatigue Risk
Management Systems (FRMS) easyJet continues
towork with other world class entities to ensure
maximum benefit is gained in terms of cost efficiencies
and crew utilisation. In 2012 we will see FRMS linked as
an integral part of the operations team. In this position
the system will be well placed to deliver Quality
Assurance of roster delivery whilst maintaining strict
regulatory compliance.
easyJet is working closely with UK, EU and European
governments and agencies to ensure there is a
coordinated response to any future large scale air
traffic disruption caused by volcanic activity or weather
events. During this year’s Icelandic volcanic eruption
easyJet worked closely with the British authorities to
provide advice on the whereabouts of the latest ash
cloud. easyJet has since been appointed as one of the
Government’s strategic partners on this issue.
easyJet has also taken part in several international
exercises simulating the effects of large scale volcanic
eruptions. In parallel continued work alongside the
Norwegian Institute for Air Research, to support the
development of the innovative on board ash detection
radar AVOID, invented by Dr Fred Prata. AVOID
(Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector)
technology is a system which uses infrared technology
built on the aircraft, similar to weather detectors
currently used, to enable pilots and flight control to see
an ash cloud up to 100km ahead and at altitudes
between 5,000ft and 50,000ft, and to amend their
course to miss areas of ash cloud, and in effect open
up a larger area of airspace than might be available
using existing data methods alone.
easyJet has since become the first airline to start trials
of the AVOID.
The safety of our passengers once they have left the
aircraft is also important to us. Last year easyJet
worked with the EU to help raise awareness of the
pan-European emergency number 112. Several activities
were carried out including onboard announcements
and a permanent mention in the in flight magazine.
Allof this to help our millions of customers feel safer
on their European travels.
Connecting with our customer is also core to the
easyJet strategy. The past year has seen a raft of
innovations introduced across the business to improve
the communication with the customer, from new
website information tools, an improved booking
process, an expanded customer experience team.
Throughout the disruptions, be it the bad winter, the
political and industrial unrest, and the latest Icelandic
eruption, we have been there for our customer
throughout. We spent the year introducing a raft of
new measures to help better deal with disruption,
including leaflets, improved accommodation and
catering support, and more efficient communication
tools. Throughout these events we also added rescue
flights to our schedule to ensure that our customers
reached their destinations as soon as possible.
Finally at easyJet we take the welfare of our
passengers extremely seriously whatever their needs
and disabilities. In 2010/2011 we carried over 350,000
passengers with reduced mobility from across Europe
and have worked closely with European disability
groups across various countries to improve our service
offering for this group of travellers, but without
compromising our safety.
Connecting with our people
Our people make the difference, across all areas of our
team, from cabin crew and pilots through to our
engineering teams and management and admin
teams. Our focus is to attract the right person
regardless of level within the business, and to keep
them engaged in making travel easy and affordable for
our passengers.
We also look for ways to operate more efficiently
across all areas of the business to provide the best
returns for our shareholders whilst maintaining the level
of service and satisfaction among our people to
provide a quality service to our customers.
8,288
Number of people
across easyJet network
5,000
Number of Spirit
recognitions in first four
months since launch
Example only. Not a current offer.