Ground handling is one of the few cost lines that touches every flight, every day. Yet procurement teams often see it only through quarterly invoices and thick Standard Ground Handling Agreements (SGHAs, see https://usecosmos.com/aviation-dictionary)—long after delays have hurt passengers and budgets. When commercial data and operational data finally meet, procurement shifts from back-office policing to a real-time driver of on-time performance (OTP).To empower procurement teams, we’ve distilled a five-step playbook that transforms reactive oversight into data-driven collaboration.

1. Bring Contracts and Operations Into One View

Consolidate every SGHA, price driver, and flight movement.

• Include rates by aircraft type and service bundle.

• Bring all contracts in one place via a structured contract repository.

• Match charges to the exact turnaround they relate to.

• Surface outliers—e.g., extra GPU fees at stations where power is “all-in”.

Cosmos aims to automatically parses contract PDFs and streams live flight data, giving you one version of truth instead of twelve spreadsheets.

2. Validate Invoices Before They Hit the Ledger

Industry studies show ~10 % of handling bills are not accurate leading to lengthly discussion on both sides — usually small line items that add up fast.

• Three-way match: contract × operational timestamps × invoice.

• Flag discrepancies instantly; dispute the same week, not next quarter.

• Track savings per station to prove ROI to finance.

With Cosmos, flight-level evidence is shared with the handler, so disputes close in hours, not months.

3. Link Spend to Service Quality

Cheap rates mean little if they buy chronic delays.

• Combine cost lines with delay codes and baggage KPIs.

• Create blended metrics to track performance. See our take on ground ops KPIs.

• Set gain-share / pain-share clauses that reward OTP, not just volume.

Because Cosmos logs every SLA breach with timestamps, variable fees calculate themselves—no more Excel gymnastics.

4. Negotiate From Live Facts, Not End-of-Year PDFs

Waiting for post-season reports cedes leverage. Use real-time dashboards to:

• Benchmark handlers across similar stations before RFPs.

• Quantify the cost of delay (crew, slots, passenger care) and price it in.

• Trigger mid-term rate reviews when volumes swing beyond agreed bands.

5. Turn Audits Into Collaborative Improvement

Shared data reduces finger-pointing and frees time for fixes.

• Log agreed counter-measures and assign owners on both sides.

• Track ROI of each action (e.g., extra belt-loaders → minutes saved).

• Publish quick wins internally—culture follows transparency.

Cosmos keeps a living playbook for every disruption and remedy, so lessons learned in Milan help tomorrow’s launch in Montréal.

Why Procurement Teams Pick Cosmos

• Real-time accuracy: flight-level reconciliation supports fair and trusted invoicing.

• Performance-linked payments: automatic bonus/malus adjustments tied to SLA results.

• Win-win negotiations: joint visibility into key performance and cost drivers.

• Zero-friction collaboration: airline and handler work from the same data, in the cloud.

Ready to turn ground-handling spend into measurable on-time wins? See how Cosmos turns procurement into a strategic lever for punctual, cost-efficient operations.