ULD on Rails – An Underground Airport Magic!

One of the most exciting news from the aviation world last week related to the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai was the announcement of a plan to have an underground railway network for transporting passengers across Terminals. This will enable high speed movement of passengers at the airport thereby saving precious travel time and facilitate on-time departure better.

Many times, changes such as these get limited to what a passenger see at the forefront. Operations behind the scenes get omitted or parked for future which may or may not become a reality.

Being in Airport Operations in the current assignment, news of underground train for passengers, got my colleagues and I thinking on a parallel business case for ground handling. If an extremely complex operations such as passenger movement can be facilitated underground, what is stopping an airport planned at the scale of DWC from thinking of ULD transportation in a similar manner to take bags, cargo and other products across the length and breadth of the airport?

DWC is already speaking of passenger volumes of 260 million making it 2.5 times more than the busiest airport in the entire world at present, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. When you operate at such high volumes, you need to have an automated and extremely agile design for both passengers and rest of the products that need transportation at an airport.  

Unit Load Device (ULD) refers to the container in which a ground handler carries bags, cargo and other products such as courier, aircraft spares etc. for an airline and delivered to the aircraft awaiting departure and vice versa. Most of the airports as we know today have this operation handled as an activity above the ground. There are certain exceptions such as Dubai International Airport (DXB) where bags are transported underground through a high-speed baggage handling system which is a smart and intelligent automated installation which takes the bags to its right destination.

Like the automated baggage movement, the idea is to have ULDs filled with these bags or cargo or other products travel below the ground, programmed to reach the destination intended. If it is for a departing flight, the ULDs reach the bay just in time where an aircraft is parked and injected up to the ground level so that these units can be loaded safely.

What could be even better is if the automation can be extended to have these ULDs loaded without the help of manual intervention. The concept of Robotics as we speak has developed enough to make this a reality. The reverse feed applies to an arrival aircraft where the ULDs are automatically unloaded and injected down to an unmanned programmed transport mechanism whereby it heads to the intended baggage carrousels or cargo warehouse depending on the product loaded in the units.

The whole idea may sound colossal but is something we could think only at the time an initial design of an airport is getting sketched. Nothing suits the bill better than DWC which aspires to be the most automated airport in the world. The benefits are numerous. The busiest airports in the world today itself require hundreds of equipment operators driving tractors across the airport to transport bags and cargo to and from the aircrafts. Imagine taking this entire traffic below the ground sans the drivers and tractors. It is a benefit straight away to decongest the otherwise busy operations on ground in a highly optimized manner with zero dependency on people thereby eliminating manual intervention.

An airport being a finite area with clearly defined boundaries and locations for bays and other operational areas, designing this should really be feasible. Combine this with automated underground passenger transport, we are looking at efficiencies reaching heights never before seen, making large scale airport operations seemingly simple.

Here is an earnest wish from a passionate aviation enthusiast, bestowing full power to the airports of the future where people will happily hang out doing what they love and spending to their heart’s content instead of wondering when they will move forward while waiting in the queue!

The Fragrance

This was a few years before India started to hear words such as globalization and liberalisation. For a school going kid, a visit from an NRI uncle and family in Gulf had the excitement similar or even more than the annual feast at the local church.

Starting from preparations to receive the family to getting up at odd hours and waiting impatiently to get into a Tempo Traveller to head to the airport, obtaining the pass to the visitor’s gallery at the airport, rushing to find a suitable spot in the gallery, the anticipation of arriving aircraft, opening of the doors, counting the passengers getting down one by one and finally sighting the familiar faces of uncle and family, all contributed to the greatest experience of the year!

The icing on the cake was seeing the number of large bags uncle brought with him since everything about those bags was new to the pre-globalization eyes of a school going kid. As soon as we reached home, the baggage were promptly taken to the room that awaited their visit. Soon enough the whole room will have a very unique fragrance, the likes of which only comes with an NRI Gulf family of those times!

The days ahead will be filled with surprises after surprises. The joy of receiving a gift, the happiness of seeing things beyond your imagination and the overall experience of being with someone who crossed the proverbial seven seas were all adding to the experience.

A month will fly by and soon it will be time for uncle and family to return to their NRI status. I hated the trips to airport to see off someone, nevertheless I did go many times. Through tearful eyes we bid goodbye. It was a heart breaking moment to stand on the same viewer’s gallery and watch the aircraft take off.

You return home and try to relive the happy moments in the now empty room. All that remains is the fragrance from the bags that were in the room.

James Mukkadan, my uncle, who gifted me all those priceless moments is no longer with us as he joined the Creator earlier today (27 Nov 2019), for a well-deserved eternal life. He leaves behind a great legacy.

I now realize something more important. Uncle, what you left behind in that empty room was not just the fragrance from your bags. It is a whole lot of memories that you created with your genuine love and care. You will be deeply missed and remembered forever! 

When my niece stopped a plane!

Bangalore, the beautiful garden city was engulfed in a thick blanket of fog at 4 o’ clock in the morning that day. Getting up that early was not my usual routine, but it was meant to be a very special day. I was to drop my dear cousin and her little one to the airport. My cousin had a trans-Atlantic flight to catch from Bangalore all the way to Chicago with one stop in-between. It was going to be an affair with the skies for more than 20 hours! She was quite tensed thinking of the long journey with my niece who was just a few months old. The very first flight for the baby!

We reached the airport before time so that she could comfortably finish check-in related procedures. These were the days when online check-in was yet to become the norm. My uncle and aunt, her parents, were with us as well to see her off. Uncle informed her that we’ll wait outside the airport till the time the flight departs. It was probably one of the finest decisions uncle took which I’m sure made him happy later.

The sequence of incidents that unfolded later was to be termed nothing less than a real-life-drama. My sister along with the baby completed the check-in procedures pretty well. Being a mom for the first time and travelling with a few days old baby is never an easy combination. She somehow managed to complete the process and moved to the boarding gate. Soon enough she found herself seated next to an American guy who was destined to have a flight of his lifetime!

Shortly before the take-off, my niece decided that she had enough of being a nice kid and started acting cranky. My cousin used every possible arsenal she had to pacify the little one. This was the first of a million times she was to realize that there were certain moments when no tricks what-so-ever worked with an angry baby. What she wouldn’t have known then is that she was to become an expert in all such cases soon with God blessing her with four more such angels in future!

The baby continued to act difficult and started crying incessantly. My cousin could see the American gentleman starting to get a bit uneasy in the next seat. Somehow he seemed to have got a vision of what’s going to happen next and was mentally preparing for the worst. The cabin crew started to take notice of the situation as well. While the drama was on, the captain of the flight announced the immediate departure of the flight. The tyres started to roll.

My niece promptly elevated the tension of the scene by shifting her crying to top gear. Soon she was competing with the vibration of the flight taxiing to the runway with her earth shattering scream. She realized that something needed to be done immediately lest the flight will take off. The moment of truth arrived! She took her full strength and with a loud cry splashed an entire load of vomit right on to the lovely wrinkle free shirt of the American. This was the very moment when flight touched the runway!

The whole scene on-board turned quite chaotic. Everyone around my cousin’s seat started getting panicky. The cabin crew decided to intervene. Without wasting a moment they informed the dire situation to the captain. This was moments before the flight was given clearance to take off by Air Traffic Control.

Not knowing any of these dramatic events, we remained at the airport parking lot awaiting the sight of the departing flight. Shortly after my niece finished executing her final scene of the play, my uncle got a call on his mobile. I could see his face muscles getting tightened as my sister gave him a quick summary of what happened. In a few minutes, we greeted her along with my niece at the Arrivals area of the airport.

My sister narrated the unbelievable story again to all of us. I looked at my niece and there she was, peacefully lying in the arms of my aunt. She even had a smile, the one that is seen only on the face of those who created history!

I had a dream…

Three decades back when I was a little kid, someone presented me with a tiny working model of an aircraft. Guess that sowed the seeds of this beautiful dream I’ve been carrying with me. The fascination for these flying wonders have been deeply embedded that I distinctly remember running out to my backyard every time to catch a glimpse of an aircraft that flew tens and thousands of miles above our small town.

Years went by and my career started with Mindtree as a Business Analyst with Staff Operations. The Emirates Group was a customer for Mindtree at that time. Even when I allocated people to Emirates account I’ve always wondered how interesting will it be to associate with that brand. It remained a dream.

Couple of years later I was fortunate to be part of the Travel & Transportation Industry Group in Mindtree. Airline domain became my area of interest. While I worked closely with the big names in the industry, Emirates still eluded me. Three more years later, it was time to move on from Mindtree. The big break came with Computer Sciences Corporation offering a dream job at Emirates, though as a consultant. It was half a dream come true!

With every passing day, I was inching closer to my dream or so I thought. There was tremendous learning where it was no longer a distant education; instead I was part of a larger plot that made this mammoth organization work like a-well-oiled machinery. Something was still missing. Being a consultant I felt like an adopted child even when you live in the same house. The connection was still missing though you could say a bond was getting formed.

A year went by and an opportunity presented itself to be a part of the Emirates family. Try I did, but destiny had other plans. Guess the fruit was not ripe yet to be plucked. My wait wasn’t over yet. Couple of more calendars got replaced. Renewed hopes were in the air. Another opportunity showed up, but it almost died as soon as it was born. Organizational level changes that were happening were to be blamed. My patience levels were now getting tested. Yet another possible opening came but it got shot down due to lack of budgets and hence no promises were made. I was fast losing it and almost decided to pack my bag of dreams.

That’s when it struck! Out of the blue, the long awaited invitation arrived, to be part of the family which I’ve been so longing to be with. I looked up and thanked Almighty. An Emirates flight with the UAE flag as the livery flew past reminding me that dreams do come true!

Today, the second day of August 2015, I’m officially part of The Emirates Group.

I live my dream. 

For the love of airports

Picture this scene:

Timeline: 1988 - 1998

Wake up call: 2 AM

Time to get ready: 30 minutes

Pick up vehicle arrives: 2:30 AM

Destination: 135 kilometers from home

Task Assigned: Receive guests

Return home: 7:30 AM

For any person who reads this, the above mentioned activity could sound quite mundane. For me this was a far cry from being a boring task. In fact I’d looked forward for days together for this very special day to arrive. I am proud to say that I’d done this multiple times and with each time the interest levels had only gone up!

As strange as this may sound, the scene above was a reference to one of my most favorite days of the year. This was when I would get a chance to go to the airport to receive an uncle and family who used to come visiting once a year from one of the Gulf nations. Needless to say I was thrilled to see my uncle, aunt and cousins after a long gap of one year. The obvious anxiety of the gifts they would’ve brought made the trip even more appealing. But, what made it such an anticipated event was the fact that I could get to see the airport again after a year!

I do not exactly remember when I developed such a passion for airports and aircrafts. As many other kids, I also remember rushing out of my home hearing the humming of an aircraft engine. Day or night didn’t matter. The height at which the aircraft was flying didn’t even bother me. All what I wanted was to catch a glimpse of the metal bird. There was even a competition between my brother and me on who spots the plane first. It was considered a skill to follow the sound and look at the right direction to identify the aircraft. We’ll be rewarded with a gleaming tiny silver bird or flashing red and green lights depending on what time of the day you spot the aircraft.

Airports were even more fascinating where you could watch multiple such moving wonders in action. All the activities surrounding an aircraft generated so much of curiosity in me that I even doubted at times if I was addicted to this concept. I distinctly remember the visitors’ lounge on the upper floor of the airport building which could be accessed by paying an amount which was not that small. That’s where you could wait and watch the people disembarking from the aircraft on arrival [these were the pre-aerobridge days] as well as see them walking towards the aircraft on departure.

Unlike the heights of happiness experienced during arrival when I could see the airport as well as meet my relatives, departure created mixed emotions. I was happy that I could see the airport again though the happiness is shadowed by the fact that uncle and family were leaving. My cousin used to say that he’ll open the window pane and wave at me after he boards the flight. Those were the days when I used to believe that people who are aboard the aircraft could see everyone standing at the visitors’ lounge and wave at them. The inverse relation between distance and vision never really rang a bell then! I could see hands waving from the tiny oval shaped windows on the aircraft and I always believed it was my cousin bidding farewell to me. It was a beautiful feeling and a painful one too.

Memories are plenty about aircrafts too. One of the most mesmerizing scenes etched deeply in my mind was during the Sri Lankan civil war. I was completing my tea and biscuits on one of the most beautiful evenings a couple of decades back. I could suddenly hear a distinct buzz of rotors. What was even stranger was the depth of the sound generated by the blades and I could figure out that it is more than just one chopper. I had already dashed to the backyard of my home and was expecting to see two helicopters flying together. The air space above our small town was not that regularly visited by a chopper, let alone two of them!

What happened next was a chapter directly out of the biggest of the dreams I would’ve ever had! That tiny little town, where one of highest decibels of sound is created by a road roller crushing the granite during road construction, witnessed the mother of all strange sights. We were blessed with a glorified view of a full-fledged military operation with a large group of helicopters doing a fly by right above my head! I was flummoxed to say the least! It was one of the best experiences of a life time to watch all those grey colored metal species unique to the world of aviation whizzing past my home with their blades in action as if they were waving at me. Guess that one sight filled me with so much of happiness that I never wanted any gifts for the next several months :)

The love of airports have grown with me and it is a pleasant surprise when I look back and realize now that I am living my dream, working right next to one of the best airports in the world here at Dubai International for one of fastest growing airlines in the world, Emirates!