Two hundred arrivals, forty flights
An international client event brings delegates from a dozen countries into two airports over a day and a half. Your transport company needs manifests: who is on each vehicle, from which terminal, at what time, with the greeter's name board. Delegates send flight details by email, in the registration form, in a spreadsheet from their travel department, or not at all.
Your coordinator groups flights into vehicles on a whiteboard and a spreadsheet. A dozen delegates change flights in the last week. On the arrival day, two flights are delayed, one lands early, and a delegate arrives at the other airport. The coordinator is on the phone to the transport controller all day, and the manifest the drivers hold is already out of date by mid-morning.
Why the manifest is always behind
Transfer planning is a grouping puzzle built on inputs that are late and moving.
- Flight details come in several formats and many are missing or incomplete.
- Grouping arrivals into vehicles depends on airport, terminal and time window, and is redone by hand after each change.
- Changes from delegates and their travel departments do not reach the manifest reliably.
- Delays and early landings on the day are handled by phone, and the paper manifest is not updated.
- Departures at the end of the event are planned separately, with the same problems.
What transfer mistakes cost
A delegate lands after a long flight and finds nobody waiting. They ring the emergency number on their joining instructions, which is the coordinator's mobile, already busy with the transport controller. A vehicle waits an hour for a flight that was delayed, and the next pickup is late. The transport company charges waiting time and extra runs, and your team spends the arrival day firefighting instead of welcoming guests. For incentive trips especially, the airport welcome is the first moment of the reward, and a missed pickup sours it.
There is also a quieter cost in the days before. Chasing delegates for missing flight numbers, one email at a time, and rebuilding the vehicle plan after every change takes a coordinator away from everything else in the busiest week of the job.
The transfer planner we build
- Delegates give flight details through their registration link, with airline, flight number, date and airport, and can update them at any time.
- Details from a client travel department's spreadsheet are imported and matched to delegates, with gaps listed for chasing.
- Flight numbers can be checked against a flight data service for scheduled times and terminals, where you choose to subscribe to one.
- Arrivals are grouped into vehicles by airport, terminal and a time window you choose, respecting vehicle sizes and any access needs, and your coordinator adjusts the grouping on screen.
- Manifests go to the transport company in their format, with changes sent as updates rather than new files.
- On the day, delays from the flight data or from delegates update the plan, and the coordinator and the transport controller see the same live view.
- Departures are planned the same way from checkout and flight times.
| Flight | Scheduled | Latest | Vehicle | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning arrival, terminal 2 | On time | On time | Minibus 1 | None |
| Late morning arrival | On time | Delayed | Minibus 2 | Move to later car |
| Early arrival, terminal 5 | On time | Landed early | Car 3 | Driver alerted |
| Delegate changed airport | Other airport | On time | Unassigned | Book extra car |
The arrival day, managed from one screen
The coordinator starts the day with every vehicle planned and every delegate assigned. As the morning goes, one flight is delayed and the planner suggests moving three delegates to a later car. The coordinator agrees, the transport controller sees the change, and the drivers' phones update. The greeter's name boards list the current passengers. By the evening, everyone is at the hotel and the waiting time charges are limited to the ones that were genuinely unavoidable.
Are your transfers planned like this?
- Flight details come in by email, form and spreadsheet.
- Arrivals are grouped into vehicles by hand, and regrouped after each change.
- Drivers work from a printed manifest that is out of date by mid-morning.
- You spend the arrival day on the phone to the transport company.
- Departures are planned separately from arrivals.