Airpro: Employee qualifications management is at the heart of our business

Images: ©Airpro Oy

Airpro is a Finavia Group company that provides ground handling, passenger, airport and logistics services for the aviation industry. The company’s employee qualifications management is strictly regulated by legislation, which means that it needs to be systematic, reliable and documented. Since November 2023, Airpro has managed its qualifications using the Rego system.

Quality, safety and risk management always come first in the aviation industry

Aviation is one of the industries that invests the most in risk management, quality and safety. This is due both to the nature of the industry and the strict regulatory control. Aviation is thus in many respects a pioneer and role model for other industries.

“Our industry has a strong safety focus, which includes aspects such as thorough procedure descriptions and safety management requirements. It covers practically all activities that enable us to work safely and with high quality standards. The safety focus is also reflected in our security check activities,” says Airpro’s Quality & Safety Manager Timo Venäläinen.

Employees’ qualifications management plays an important role in risk management in the aviation industry. Jani Nyberg, who works as Training & Process Manager for Airpro’s aircraft ground handling services and is responsible for related qualifications management, says that qualifications lay the foundation for the company’s entire operation.

“This requirement applies to us from a regulatory point of view, as everything in our industry is approached through risk management. We must be able to show at any given time which qualifications are valid for whom. A specialised system for controlling and managing all these aspects, while also providing the necessary alert functionalities, helps us to stay up to date,” Nyberg says.

Olli-Pekka Hämäläinen, Training & Process Manager of Airpro’s security check services and responsible for related qualifications management, agrees.

“You know you have a solid grip on qualifications management when you do not need to pay extra attention to it. With a good system, we can manage operations reliably and demonstrate the validity of the qualifications. It is also important that the staff can keep track of the status of their own qualifications,” Hämäläinen says.

The skills and qualifications of staff are also an essential part of shift management in aviation. Shift planning is only possible when you have reliable and up-to-date, competence-based information at hand.

“If an employee lacks documented qualifications for their job, they have no business in operational work. For us, expired qualifications are always a critical deviation. When it comes to qualifications, our operations are also subject to continuous monitoring and auditing,” Venäläinen sums up.

Reliable and proactive competence management

Rego’s competence management functionalities are used by the entire Airpro staff, approximately 1,400 employees. For Airpro, a key feature of the system is that end users, or employees, have logical views of their own qualifications. Supervisors, in turn, must be able to check the status of their team and group members’ qualifications at any time. They also need access to the necessary requirements and certificates.

“Supervisors have their own responsibilities, of course, but with a functional system we can also make it easier and more motivating for each employee to keep track of their own qualifications,” Hämäläinen notes.

Another important benefit of the system for Airpro is predictability and planning for the future – qualifications management plays a significant role in the organisation.

“The information in the system serves as a basis when we make plans for the following year. Up-to-date information provides us with a ready-made template for training calendars,” says Hämäläinen.

User orientation and future potential

Airpro chose Qreform’s Rego as its qualifications management system in 2023. User orientation was a key factor in the decision.

“We started cooperation primarily because of the user-friendliness of the system – and how the system works in general. We were attracted by Rego’s adaptability and simplicity, in a good sense, as the focus must always be on the end user. Training and coaching have also always been available whenever needed,” Hämäläinen notes.

Airpro and Qreform have also collaborated on the system’s further development. One successful example of the co-development is the Read & Sign solution, which was awarded as the public’s favourite at the EUROSAFETY fair in 2024. The solution ensures that important information, changes and policies are passed on to the staff.

“It has been great to be involved in the development of the system and to impact features that are important to us,” Hämäläinen says.

“We also see a lot of future potential in Rego, as regards supervisor views, for example. Our staff also gives development suggestions for Rego, which is great. We have definitely not made use of all the benefits of the system yet,” Nyberg continues.

Quality & Safety Manager Timo Venäläinen agrees.

“All in all, the cooperation has worked very well. Qreform is highly customer-oriented, and communication works both ways. I appreciate the fact that Qreform is genuinely interested in customer needs and truly makes its expertise and insights available to us. Not once have we been told that our request cannot be fulfilled. It has only been a question of how to fulfil it,” Venäläinen concludes.