Client Manifests

When coordinating transportation for a group of attendees the client provides us with a manifest that is in the form of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet listing pertinent information. This includes the clients name, airline they're flying in on, flight number, arrival time, and it is also helpful to know the departure city when checking the flight status. We use this information to schedule vehicles that will be transferring the attendees to their destination. In a situation where the attendees are VIPs and semi-VIPs the client may not want them to wait any more than five minutes for a vehicle once they have their bags. In this case, we may have anywhere from five to twenty sedans scheduled for the day. We would also more likely be waiting at the entrance to baggage claim with signage that has their last name and program logo on it. After greeting the attendee, we walk them to the carousel that will be delivering their luggage. If they only brought a carry-on bag, then I call the driver staged in lot C, whose number I have from the Schedule of Services, and let them know that we are ready for a pick-up and reconfirm terminal and location. If the client wants to save some money then they will have the attendees wait for up to thirty minutes in order to gather flights from all three terminals into a minicoach. When greeting groups of people arriving at or around a similar time, we'll be holding a sign that has a program logo on it that is hopefully easy to identify by guests. It is not uncommon for attendees to be distracted and walk right by you, that is why we try to smile and make eye contact with everyone walking by. Sometimes the client doesn't inform the guest, or they are not paying attention to instructions, and they don't know to look for someone holding a sign. It is extremely important to keep up on any updates to the manifest that the client the client sends. If the arrivals are coming in over several days, the operations manager has to be available or able to access email 24 hours a day. Based on manifest changes such as arrival times, additions or cancellations, the operations manager has to make sure that vehicles and staff are scheduled or canceled. We also offer clients "Driver Meet/Greet" services which means that a PRA staff member is not present. The vehicle (most often a sedan in these cases) driver has the sign with the attendees name, walks them to the baggage carousel, helps them with their luggage to the car and takes them to their destination. This costs more and is more of a risk because the driver works for our supplier and not employed by PRA. This means that if the driver makes a mistake then PRA gets the wrath from the client. This happened last week when a driver was supposed to pick up two guests on the same flight but only picked up one. The guest that was left behind had to take a cab, which he took to the wrong hotel, and also walked into a meeting that he was not supposed to be a part of. The last minute manifest changes were made available to the driver but were not followed through. The client was very upset and the operations manager had to endure the verbal punishment and also reimburse the client for the cab and the room at the wrong hotel. This was a lesson learned for me, if you or your staff are not going to be present, it is essential to have constant communication with whoever is taking on the job.