Aertime October 2014 by Internal Communications

OCTOBER 2014

YOUR STAFF MAGAZINE

Values and Behaviours Defining what we Believe as an Airline

LEEDS BRADFORD // FUN RUN // EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS UNICEF // SPECIAL OLYMPICS // AER LINGUS GAA

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MEET THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM The start of September saw Bernard Bot and Federico Balzola join our Executive Team.

Bernard, who is based in Hangar 6, joins as Chief Financial Officer having most recently held the position of group chief financial officer and executive board member at TNT Express. Prior to the demerger of TNT Express in 2011, Bernard was CFO of TNT NV. Bernard joined TNT in 2005 and served as director of business control prior to his appointment as group CFO. As director of business control, Bernard's responsibilities included internal control, mergers and acquisitions and business control. Bernard has an MSc in business economics from Erasmus University in the Netherlands and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, USA.

Federico is based in Shamrock House and joins Aer Lingus as Chief People and Change Officer having most recently held the position of southern Europe regional HR director at Reckitt Benckiser, whose health, home and hygiene brands are sold in nearly 200 countries around the world with total net revenue of €10 billion in 2013. Prior to Reckitt Benckiser Federico worked in senior HR positions in the Gillette Company, then in Procter and Gamble between 2005 and 2008. He also had various HR roles in the Danone Group between 1991 and 2005. Federico has a BA in economics and business from Université Paris IX-Dauphine, France and an MS in economics from Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy.

Aer Lingus Regional launches new route to Dublin Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Stobart Air, recently announced that it will offer direct double daily return flights between Leeds Bradford International Airport and Dublin Airport from October 23rd 2014. The schedule will offer prime morning and evening flights to accommodate a day return for business passengers. Julian Carr, Managing Director at Stobart Air said that the new route to Dublin represents a convenient, accessible and valuefor-money choice for our customers. “We are delighted to return to Leeds Bradford to launch this route to Dublin. We hope this service will continue to facilitate the long-established Irish community which has thrived near the city centre of Leeds for nearly 200 years. At the end of September we also announced a return after 18 years to East Midlands Airport, with twice daily return flights to Dublin Airport from 5 February 2015. The further expansion of our Regional route network follows the ongoing success of the franchise agreement between Stobart Air and Aer Lingus with the new routes expected to carry 140,000 customers in their first year. Both new routes will operate from our hub at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2, where passengers can avail of US Customs and Border Pre-Clearance for onward travel to the US.

Do you have a story we could feature in Aertime? Then email us at: aertime@aerlingus.com

Latest News Aertime

SEPTEMBER

PUNCTUALITY % % % % 54 67 81 88 ON-TIME:

TARGET:

TWITTER

FAVOURITES

Special Olympics Irl @SOIreland

Can't wait to give #TeamIreland a heroes welcome today as they arrive back from an amazing

WITHIN 15 MINS:

PASSENGER NUMBERS: Total flown passenger numbers, including Aer Lingus Regional operations were

performance at #SO2014 Thanks to @AerLingus

1,041,000

Iarla Hughes @IarlaHughes

an increase of 5.3%

Thank you @AerLingus for making things so easy for

compared to September 2013

TARGET:

5.3%

me and my family travelling through Dublin Airport. Best airline to fly with bar none! Jennabelle @lajennabellevie Thank you @aerlingus and pilot Barry for a fantastic flight from Heathrow to Cork last night! 25 mins early! #flyaerlingus Mark Foley @foley_gm Really pleasant @AerLingus flight from Hamburg today. Friendly staff and genuine sense of being a valued

LOAD FACTOR:

Total flown passenger load factor in August 2014 was

83.3%

1.6%

customer!

An increase of 1.6%

j hartin @jhartin

compared to 86.6% in September 2013 (excludes Aer Lingus Regional)

@AerLingus great work from Angela on EI030 this morning. Looked after elderly gent in row 2 with care, compassion and dignity #excellent Daniel Hughes @Daniel__H22 @AerLingus great service on flight from Dublin to London Heathrow and back again this weekend! Looking forward to Geneva in October. :) Robin Morgan @robinmorgan Outstanding customer care.

listed on the Irish Stock Exchange was

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from the previous

Read more at twitter.com/aerlingus/favorites

edition of Aertime

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€0.06

FROM LAST MONTH *at time of print

@AerLingus once again I find myself doffing my cap.

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Aertime Feature

LIVING OUR VALUES

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO BETTER TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET?

HOW DOES DISPLAYING VALUES IMPACT ON HOW WE DELIVER FOR OUR CUSTOMER?

WHAT ARE THE VALUES THAT SET US AT AER LINGUS APART FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

THESE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE DISCUSSED AT AN OFFSITE WORKSHOP HELD WITH AER LINGUS SENIOR MANAGEMENT RECENTLY, EXPLAINS LOUISE GERAGHTY, ORGANISATION CAPABILITY MANAGER IN THE PEOPLE AND CHANGE TEAM.

Feature Aertime Values. Behaviours. Simple words but they are the foundations for continued success. To deliver our vision of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Connecting Ireland to the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, it is important that we share and live the values and behaviours that make Aer Lingus unique and successful. The five values are team, humanity, courage, performance and honesty. Local initiatives will be taking place across the airline to make sure that the message reaches everyone. "We'll be running workshops, there'll be local roadshows, and local newsletters will share all that employees need to know. We will have information on the Intranet, team managers will be informing their teams and we'll start to notice that the values are being integrated into some of our key processes. For example, we will be recruiting new employees who share our values and these values will be central to how we develop our employees," Louise says.

COLLABORATION EFFORT Defining the Aer Lingus values and behaviours is the result of collaboration with colleagues from across the airline. "We began gathering feedback in June from colleagues across business areas. In these meetings, we asked them to tell us what behaviours they expected to see in each other. We drew out from each area, what the five values meant to them as part of the Aer Lingus team. We received fantastic feedback which was collated and which can now be seen in the Values and Behaviours Guide. This will be shared with all employees over the forthcoming weeks.

LAUNCH Once the guide was developed, our next step was to meet with the senior management team in a business breakfast session, explains Louise. It was here that the Aer Lingus Values & Behaviours were launched. There was a huge sense of positivity, commitment and energy in the room around what we need to achieve as a business and how we can do that together.

ROLLING OUT And so, over the next few weeks and on into next year, the values and behaviours

"WE WANT OUR EMPLOYEES TO HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BE THE BEST THAT THEY CAN BE, FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. DEMONSTRATING THE VALUES AND BEHAVIOURS WILL HELP EACH OF US ACHIEVE THIS GOAL." will be shared company wide. By now, everyone will have received a link to our values video. "We hope you enjoy the video; it shows employees from across the airline talking about the values and what they mean to them." So what should employees do? Louise suggests that everyone watches the video and takes a few minutes to read through the guide. Each one of us should think about how we are living the values at work and what is the impact on our colleagues and customers when we don't. Ask questions like; within my area, what are we really good at? What are we not so good at and what could we do better? "We want our employees to have every opportunity to be the best that they can be, for themselves and for our customers. Demonstrating the values and behaviours will help each of us achieve this goal." "If we don't give our colleagues clarity on the Aer Lingus values, we can't expect them to live the values that are important to us." The introduction of the Values and Behaviours marks an exciting new chapter in Aer Lingus's story.

OUR VALUES l Team l Humanity l Courage l Performance l Honesty

Aertime In Focus

EMERGENCY RESPONSE: BEING PREPARED

EVERY ONE HOPES THAT INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY, BUT A COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN IS REQUIRED FOR THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT THEY DO. JIM ROGERS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE MANAGER, TALKS US THROUGH THE AER LINGUS PLAN AND THE RECENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE EXERCISE.

n our industry, safety is paramount – and any shortcoming can have tragic consequences, as well as affecting a company's reputation. Airline safety is a high-profile subject.

“There have been accidents in the last year, worldwide. These are very rare events, but they're in the public eye: emergency response is in focus at the moment,” explains Jim Rogers, Aer Lingus' Emergency Response Manager. “We have an excellent Emergency Response Plan, and my challenge at the moment is to refine it and ensure protection for the airline in the changing world of aircraft emergency response.”

Jim has been the Emergency Response Manager since last November, and has an extensive background in Aer Lingus. "I have really enjoyed the change. It has allowed me to draw upon my background and experience in Ground Operations, and in project management where relationships with vendors and suppliers are key. In the last ten months I have reached out to our colleagues in our codeshare and ACMI partnerships, other airlines, embassies and State services. I have met and trained personnel from all areas of the company in our emergency reponse procedures. In doing so I have had access to a broad range of areas in the company. I'm working with areas such as Flight and Cabin Operations, Ground Operations,

In Focus Aertime

Cargo, Finance and Insurance. Every part of our company has a part to play in response to an aircraft accident. “We have an Emergency Response Centre in Hangar 6, which is a dedicated facility beside the Integrated Operations Centre. The Emergency Response director, Anne Bradley, and two alternates are currently trained up. As manager, it's my reponsibility to make sure that the facilities in the room are always prepared in case we need to respond. For business continuity reasons I have to ensure that we have alternate ER facilities available in the event of a hangar closure due to fire alarms or other issues. We have facilities available in Terminal 2 to act as an alternate Integrated Operations Centre and an Emeregency Response Centre. In the event of the airport campus being unavailable we have an agreement with Air Contractors in Swords to use their command room. “I manage the Emergency Response Plan, and I ensure that there's readiness at all our stations – that we're organised and that we have the plans in place to respond to an emergency.” Aer Lingus has had a very sophisticated Emergency Response Plan for many years, so Jim and his team work hard to keep it current and refine it all the time. “It's a living plan, so you have to keep it vibrant and alive and to keep all the participants engaged and exercised.”

EMERGENCY EXERCISE PHOENIX This year we were delighted to be chosen by the Dublin Airport Authority to be the participating airline in their annual exercise, called Exercise Phoenix. This comprehensive emergency exercise took place on Thursday October 2nd. “It's was a comprehensive joint exercise between ourselves, the Dublin Airport Authority and the three primary response agencies – Meath County Council in command of the fire and rescue services, the Health Service Executive who manage the ambulance and hospital response, and An Garda Síochána who control the site and casualty lists,” says Jim. The exercise took place in two phases on two sites: Phase 1 in Fairyhouse Racecourse for the staging of an aircraft accident event. Phase 2 in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin Airport to mock up a Family Assistance Centre. The DAA responded as if it were just off the airfield. The Fairyhouse Racecourse site was an ideal area to mock up this event, and it was used by all of the State agencies as the closest they could get to a real situation exercise. It's was an exciting opportunity to work with all of the state bodies involved and we all took numerous learnings from the event. Heretofore, all of the agencies including Aer Lingus have exercised their plans separately. Meath County Council invoked their Major Emergency Management Plan and the county manager chaired the Local Command Centre in Navan. The county manager’s role was to then coordinate the three primary response agencies. The preparations for this exercise have been going on for four months. The aim was to use the existing plan, put it

to the test and then adjust it to take into account any lessons that have been learned along the way. “That's normal: every time you exercise, some things work well and some things don't work quite as well. You adjust the plans accordingly. “We're not trying to catch people out, we're trying to test plans, procedures and processes, make sure that checklists are still valid and that people get practice in doing what they're doing. It's a learning exercise, it's not an exam.” As the saying goes, if you fail to plan then you are planning to fail. Through keeping an updated Emergency Response Plan and holding events like the joint emergency exercise, Jim's team and the airline are doing everything they can to prepare for all eventualities.

Aertime In Focus

SINGING FROM THE SAME HYMNSHEET A NEW SERVICE STANDARDS PROGRAMME WILL HELP EMPLOYEES TO DELIVER GREATER CONSISTENCY AND A BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. AS MARC GILES, GUEST STANDARDS AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER EXPLAINS, THE AIM IS FOR AER LINGUS TO GAIN AN EXTRA STAR AND BECOME A SKYTRAX FOUR-STAR AIRLINE.

he Aer Lingus motto of 'great care' is a familiar one. But how do we get from 'good' to 'great'?Guest Standards and Engagement Manager Marc Giles and his team have been hard at work on that very question, and the result is a new programme, just about to launch. The aim is to achieve four-star status for Aer Lingus – and delivering consistency is the key.

The programme is known as Service Standards, a set of guidelines which will improve the customer experience, driving consistency and customer satisfaction. As it rolls out, front-line colleagues in Ground Operations and Inflight Services will be hearing a lot about it. But why the need for a new programme, and why the focus on consistency? “Aer Lingus has been on a journey in terms of our business model, from being a full-service carrier to the .dot com days,” Marc explains. “Now we're in a middle-ground between the pure low-cost carrier and traditional full-service carriers. Depending on when staff started with the airline, some people would have had their training at different points on that journey: they could have different perceptions of what the Aer Lingus standard of service is. At the moment we're relying on people's interpretation, and that's why we need a programme to deliver a consistent approach where we define

what the Aer Lingus standard of service is, so that everyone can sing from the same hymnsheet. “We don't want 'textbook' service where it's delivered by robots. It has to be delivered in a way in which the fundamental standards are there, but that each individual staff member delivers it with a style and flair for service that they uniquely bring to the table. They create a personal connection with each of the customers. That translates into great care.”

PAVING THE WAY FROM GOOD TO GREAT SERVICE Marc's department is quite a new area in the company. A team of four, he and Alex McEvoy both have backgrounds in Ground Operations, particularly the customer-facing areas of check-in, boarding, the ticket desk, and on the ramp as red caps. Mark Crane looks after the Customer First end of things; his background is in customer relations. Lorna Flynn is assisting with mystery shopping and administrative work. The team started off on the Customer First programme, and began work by getting views and ideas from staff. “We wanted to extend that into the customer area, and to improve the customer experience. We started looking at service standards, basically looking at the consistency with which we

In Focus Aertime

deliver service – all with the aim of getting us to be a Skytrax four-star airline. We're going about that through the Service Standards programme to guide and inspire staff,” he says. “In the short-term we're looking to create an understanding among everyone of the service expectations of our customers, and what our service proposition is. Medium-term, at the end of 2015 we're looking to invite Skytrax back into Aer Lingus to do a full audit across the end-to-end customer journey, with a view to upgrading from a three-star to a four-star airline. The long-term goal is to use that as a point of differentiation for Aer Lingus, to ultimately create greater loyalty and make Aer Lingus the airline of choice for our existing customers, as well as attracting new customers away from our competitors, who are improving their service levels and differentiating their products all the time.”

Pictured (L to R): Mark Crane, Lorna Flynn, Marc Giles and Alex McEvoy

what our standards of service are. The new programme is the result of intensive collaboration and engagement with key areas, mainly Inflight Services and Ground Operations, since the start of the year. “It follows on from the My Personal Best training last year,” Marc says. “We want to keep the flame burning; keep the energy that we got from bringing everyone together on that single day and not let it fizzle out. The next step is to make sure that we're all aligned and that everyone can join the dots between that day and what we're doing now with the Service Standards programme.” A series of workshops and consultations helped to map out what good service looks like: this is a collaborative effort in which every member of staff has a stake. It's driven by realworld experience. “We've been there, we've done that: we've worked with customers and have a keen sense for what Aer Lingus customers expect and how we deliver services. We have hands-on knowledge from previous jobs, and we took a very consultative approach across the airline in writing the standards. It's designed by you, for you.” As well as wide-ranging grassroots involvement, there's extensive buy-in from management level. Service Standards is sponsored by Mike Rutter, Chief Revenue Officer, and has support from Christoph. Among the key enablers are Chief Operating Officer Fergus Wilson, who has overall responsibility for Ground Operations,as well as Robert Somers,Executive for Flight Operations and Contract Flying on the Inflight Services side.

GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS Communicating the programme will be crucial so that everyone gets up and running and there are no surprises along the way. Marc and his team are currently nailing down the launch plans. Face-to face sessions, committee groups and Yammer will all play a part. They're also developing a video that will tell the whole story: that Skytrax four stars is the end goal, and what the programme will mean for staff in their day-to-day roles. The programme will also be introduced by a group of service champions. They'll be explaining why the new programme is important and how it translates into every staff member's role: it will give staff the tools to do a better job and understand

“Our service champions will be made up of supervisors and onboard leaders: around 30 from Ground Operations and Inflight Services,” Marc says. On the Service Champions Away Day, which took place on Monday September 22nd, the team were briefed on their roles as key leaders of the service standards programme. They had the opportunity to learn best practice from industry experts among the management teams at each of the three locations. Each excelled in different areas of service relevant to how we do things (and more importantly how we could do them better) at Aer Lingus. “We visited the Disney Store, McDonald's and the Shelbourne Hotel. We picked those places because they have a familyfriendly service proposition, general service ethos and retail excellence in best practice.” McDonald's is a leader in speed and efficiency, crucial to an airline. The Shelbourne was chosen for five-star hospitality and its guest philosophy while Disney’s Stores are renowned for their family friendly approach. The champions will now be involved in rollout, providing peerto-peer communication and a contact point for employees: they'll be the local go-to people. Once things are up and running, mystery shopping will help to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Service Standards will launch in the coming months. As it’s a company-wide approach, the goals are clear – and the new programme provides a map to get there.

IN A NUTSHELL l The aim is to achieve consistency and become a four-star airline l The new Service Standards will cover the airport experience, on-board experience and cabin cleanliness. l A new service flow manual, PA announcements booklet and Uniform and Grooming Standards will also be launched l The new programme will be rolled out in the coming weeks

Aertime What's Hot

AER LINGUS PLAYS A PART IN SPECIAL OLYMPICS TEAM IRELAND SUCCESS As official sponsor of Special Olympics Team Ireland, we were proud to fly the team to the 2014 Special Olympics Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium in September. The 46 athletes took part in seven sports at the European games: athletics, aquatics, bocce, gymnastics, football (seven-a-side) and table tennis, where they won an incredible 57 medals, one of our best performances to date. Special thanks go to all our colleagues who made their journey to and from the games such a memorable occasion for all those involved. A short video to mark the Team Ireland send-off from Dublin Airport featuring a number of Aer Lingus employees can be viewed via www.vimeo.com/aerlingusinternal/special-olympics-2014

COMPETITION Under new ownership and management since April 2014, the Anner Hotel has undergone extensive renovations. The lobby is bright, spacious and welcoming, Edâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bar and Bistro provides a modern, comfortable setting, and the new patio area provides a relaxing outside room overlooking the gardens to relax and enjoy a refreshment. The main restaurant, with its bright conservatory area, is the perfect setting for breakfast, lunch or a more formal dinner. Overall, the Anner Hotel provides traditional, friendly hospitality in a relaxed modern environment. Set within beautiful mature landscaped gardens, the Anner Hotel is located on the outskirts of Thurles town, 10 minutes' stroll from the town centre. Thurles is an historic cathedral town, the home of the GAA and the heart of the magnificent county of Tipperary. Unwind and relax in the Anner Leisure Club, with 18 meter decked swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi and Steam Room. Should you wish to have a workout our gym features a wide selection of cardio and resistance equipment. Take a stroll in the gardens, relax with a good book or enjoy an ice cream Sundae or sip a drink on the patio and enjoy the bustle. Check out the many special offers from Select Hotels on www.selecthotels.ie or call 1850 200 560. The Anner Hotel has very kindly offered one lucky reader two nights' bed and full Irish breakfast plus one evening meal for two people. To be in with a CHANCE OF WINNING THIS FANTASTIC PRIZE, simply email aertime@aerlingus.com with your name, staff number and answer.

What are the 5 Aer Lingus Values? Last monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner was Brendan Spain, Maintenance and Engineering, Dublin