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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):
Question:
At present, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) and various airlines respectively engage service contractors (contractors) to provide services (e.g. cleaning, ground handling and maintenance services) within the precinct of the Hong Kong International Airport (the airport). Some members of the public consider that the service performance of these contractors directly affects travellers' impression of the airport and even affects the civil aviation industry and tourism industry of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows whether the AAHK has, by itself or through the respective airlines:
(a) laid down specific requirements on the scope and workload of the outsourced services as well as the manpower needed for the provision of such services; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) assessed and monitored the respective performances of the various outsourced services; if it has, whether there are dedicated staff to conduct the assessment and monitoring work; if not, whether it will allocate manpower dedicated to undertaking such tasks; and
(c) established a mechanism for imposing penalties on contractors with poor performance; if it has, of the details of the mechanism, and the number of times the contractors concerned were issued warnings and penalized in the past three years; if not, whether it will establish the relevant mechanism?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin is as follows:
(a) The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) signed contracts with franchisees for the latter to provide cleaning, ground handling, and maintenance services to airlines in the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The scopes of service and performance indicators in respect of major service areas are stipulated clearly in all the contracts signed between the AAHK and its franchisees. The indicators cover various airport services, for example, the arrival time of baggage at baggage conveyor belt.
Since franchisees may use different equipment, devices, or adopt different management models and work arrangements, it is undesirable for the AAHK to impose rigid workload and manpower requirements in the service contracts with its franchisees. That said, the AAHK will specify in all service contracts that the franchisees should deploy sufficient resources to ensure that the services provided are up to standard.
(b) The AAHK has an established monitoring mechanism whereby its departments responsible for relevant contracts would regularly monitor and assess the performance and service quality of its service franchisees. Service franchisees are required to submit monthly performance reports. Furthermore, the AAHK regularly meets with its franchisees to review their service standard and look into their manpower arrangement and staff training. From past monitoring, AAHK had identified cases that fell short of the required performance standard. For example, the baggage of arrival flights could not be conveyed to the baggage conveyor belt within the timeframe as specified in the performance pledge (i.e. the first baggage to arrive at the baggage conveyor belt within 20 minutes while the last baggage to arrive within 40 minutes).
(c) For the franchisees who are unable to meet the performance standard, the AAHK will take follow-up actions commensurate with the nature and seriousness of the problems identified. Follow up actions include immediate investigation, requiring the franchisees to submit reports, and convening review meetings with the management of the franchisees for working out the necessary improvement measures. If the performance of the franchisees involves non-compliance or no improvement is seen after a prolonged period, the AAHK would issue warning letters to the management of the franchisees concerned.
Besides, in every contract signed between the AAHK and a franchisee, there are provisions which give the AAHK the right to terminate the contract and revoke the relevant licence should the franchisee fail to meet its performance targets consistently and in the absence of any improvement.
According to AAHK's records, from 2011 to June 2013, the AAHK issued a total of nine letters to its franchisees, requesting for service improvement. All the cases concerned baggage conveyance of arrival flights, i.e. about the situation that the baggage was not conveyed to the baggage conveyor belt within the specified timeframe. In all cases, AAHK requested the service franchisees to improve their service and followed up their improvement measures.
Ends/Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:01
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