he Cooperative and Aviation Group During the Pandemic Period

              The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely hit the businesses hard, and one of the hardest hit industries is, aviation. In a news on the impact of COVID-19 on aviation, it is expected that passenger traffic for 2021 is expected to be less than half than it carried in 2019.1 According also to the analysis of Air Transport Action Group, 4.8 million jobs in aviation may be lost by the beginning of next year. 2 Undeniably, the aviation industry is very much at risk at this time of pandemic due to the significant drop in the demand for air travel brought about by the various travel restrictions imposed by the different countries as a consequence in their efforts to control the spread of the pandemic.

               Asiapro Multi-Purpose Cooperative’s Aviation Group is not foreign to this challenge. In 2020 alone, the number of work force who were able to go back to their jobs was only at 25%-30%. But as workers’ cooperative who is a pioneer in the country, Asiapro serves to provide sustainable solution to manpower and operational requirements that enable business operations. For more than 20 years, Asiapro sought ways to provide the proper business model(s) to fit various companies’ needs in different industries.

              For the Aviation Group, which is led by Michael Ortiz who has over 20 years of extensive experience in the various facets of aviation operations, it is fortunate enough to be engaged with a client that serves not only to protect its business and its customers, but its workers as well. When the pandemic hit, the group shifted to a skeletal work arrangement where the member-owners are provided with a board and lodging, in partnership with our client dnata (Dubai National Air Travel Agency). The group is also equipped with appropriate measures to ensure the safety of its customers and workers such as requiring health certificate when returning to work stating that they are fit to work and free from the virus and of course, there is an in-house nurse from the client who screens the workers before entering the airport premises.
 
Partnership with Clients and Business Development

              In an article about sustaining and growing customer relationships it says that once a certain level of trust and comfort has been established between a customer and business owner, most customers prefer to remain loyal to companies and their products. 3 Asiapro for 20 years has established its brand of providing service to its members through livelihood opportunities and quality service to clients through manpower servicing and later business process management and optimization. This is helped the Aviation Group as it capitalized on the established reputation of the cooperative as a pillar in the service industry, and a word of mouth marketing coupled with the group head’s extensive years in the industry – his past business partners did not have second thoughts on entrusting their operations to Asiapro, in spite of it being a newcomer in the aviation services industry. In addition, they also referred him to other potential prospects for the group. It has anchored its brand on Asiapro which is basically strength in relationship.

              Since 2018, the Cooperative’s Aviation Group has thrived in the industry despite being a relatively new player - establishing its name in the Aviation industry, with the clients trusting the group to deliver quality service. It was able to build its name through an efficient service delivery meeting the standards set by the client and relationship building which consequently led to new opportunities. When we first started client dnata, we only had 128 members and they had three (3) different service providers for each aspect of their operations. To date, Asiapro is the only service provider of dnata for their entire operations.

              Despite being affected by the pandemic, the group, through Michael Ortiz, thrived to maintain positive relationship with its clients by providing quality service and ensuring that the operation is still running. As earlier mentioned, the group instituted a partnership with the client to set in place safety measures amidst COVID-19 pandemic and having an in-house nurse from the client to ensure that the workers are cleared against the virus. This partnership has helped transpire a new business development for the group when the client endorsed a new engagement which involves warehousing and logistics operations. With Asiapro already having the resources to venture to warehousing and logistics, the group launched a campaign and approached potential clients in the warehousing services industry. Through the collective initiatives of the management, the group and the relationships built throughout the years – coupled with his expertise in business handling – new opportunities arose.

              Warehousing and logistics aim to provide staffing and operational support services to its clients’ warehouse from inventory management and asset visibility to security monitoring. It also provides support to streamline information feedback about supplies and inventory. At the same time, it provides logistics expertise to keep the supplies and inventory operations run smoothly. This service will keep the clients worry-free and be able to focus on their core business as the group will be the one to arrange the warehouse and inventory, maintain appropriate equipment, manage new stock coming to facility, pick, pack, and ship orders, and track and improve the overall warehouse performance.

              Through current partnerships with the clients, Aviation was able to build on them and now they were able to refer the group to new opportunities with their other business partners. Indeed, clients are more comfortable in continuing business with a partner if they can connect with you on a more personal level. And as a service provider in a cooperative set-up, Aviation Group prides itself to customer satisfaction where the needs and requirements are always put as a priority. Certainly, more and more businesses are coming to the aviation group for their warehousing and logistics needs such as Foodasia Commercial Corp., Avon and Mama Sita in which they are deploying member-workers during the first half of this year.

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Asiapro is a pioneer multipurpose cooperative in the country providing customized managed services solutions to its clients and prides itself in being socially relevant especially to its members. Asiapro is a Bronze winner of Investors in People Award. Sa Asiapro, bawat isa Mahalaga.

To know more: go to www.asiapro.coop