Ensuring Your ITP and Security Provider Play Nice

Ensuring Your ITP and Security Provider Play Nice: Here are some insider tips to ensure you get the best performance from each service provider. 

As the end consumer, you would assume that your security provider and your International Trip Planning provider would be on the same team. After all, both companies should be striving to provide the highest possible service to you, ensuring that your crews and passengers are kept secure and in compliance. However, as trip planning companies attempt to expand their service offerings, a conflict of interest is created. Recognizing this risk and taking steps to mitigate it is an essential component of ensuring your executives and crew receive seamless service.

International Trip Planning firms, or ITPs, have been providing transportation services for years. Now, most, if not all, offer solutions that were once only provided by boutique service providers. Services such as advanced details and movement notifications have been on the service menu for years. Typically, these services are arranged and coordinated by local agents on the ground. This puts solutions by your preferred transportation and security solutions at a disadvantage, as these agents hold all the cards. They know when the flight is arriving, where it is arriving, and are responsible for communicating these things to your drivers and security teams. It is not unusual for coordination issues to arise at the FBO, with the agent saving the day after transportation is delayed or does not show at all. While in areas of South and Southeast Asia, these incidents can be insidious, more often than not miscommunications arise from a local aviation agent’s inexperience with security and transportation.

To alleviate these issues, it is suggested that you seek an ITP provider with an in-house transportation and security arm. In this way, even if you are utilizing your own provider, there are staff members on hand who are familiar with these services and can assist you with coordination. If you do not have a preferred provider, having a one-stop solution ensures a seamless service. If your ITP provider does not have an in-house resource, you should facilitate an introduction between them and your security team. As they will be working hand-in-hand, it is best to ensure that they have a working relationship and that mutually agreed upon procedures are in place. 

For support for your operation’s security needs, contact UAS