Eulen America, a Miami-based outsourcing enterprise, is hardly a household name.
But the company, which focuses on aviation services, has a big presence at Miami International Airport and ranks as a major private-sector employer in Miami-Dade County.
About 2,000 Eulen employees work at MIA. Another 1,000-plus in Eulen’s U.S. workforce are employed at 13 other U.S. airports, including Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers.
“We are a ground services company for the aviation sector, and our largest presence in the U.S. is in Miami,” said Xavier Rabell, CEO of Eulen America.
“Our employees work at ticket counters, handle baggage, clean airplane cabins between flights and provide a variety of passenger assistance services,” said Rabell, who took over as CEO of Eulen America in early 2018.
Other services include ramp operations for passengers, wheelchair assistance for elderly and handicapped passengers and caring for unaccompanied minors.
At MIA, Eulen employees wearing uniforms with Eulen America emblems provide services for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air France and others, including charter lines.
Eulen America is a subsidiary of Grupo Eulen, a family-held concern based in Spain. Aside from the aviation services segment, the parent company also provides janitorial, maintenance, security, logistics, telemarketing, healthcare and other outsourced services.
Rabell is responsible for Eulen’s business in the U.S., Canada and Jamaica, and is working to expand its market footprint. Other Eulen subsidiaries operate directly in 13 other nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East, and provide services in other countries.
Employee outsourcing among major airlines is a big business. Airlines use outsourced employees for certain jobs and save money by paying less than union wages.
“It’s a very competitive market,” Rabell said, and the company has been successful in expanding its reach in the U.S. thanks to its international reputation for reliable service, flexibility and pricing. For example, different teams of Eulen personnel must be flexible enough to provide all the services airlines need whenever flights are delayed or cancelled at major airports like MIA, or when extra flights are added.
In Miami, Eulen pays employees a county-mandated “living wage” of $16.40 an hour, higher than non-aviation vendor employees at MIA and well above Florida’s $8.25 an hour minimum wage. The pay level and training encourage employees to stay, Rabell said, citing a turnover rate of 2-3 percent.
Eulen means “owls” in German and the company’s Spanish founder used an owl as the company symbol to underscore its commitment to learning and to training employees, Rabell said. Eulen devotes considerable resources to training at all levels.
Company name: Eulen America.
Founded: The parent company, Grupo Eulen, was founded in Spain in 1962. Eulen America was set up in 2008 when the group acquired a Miami company that provided airlines with ground handling and passenger services.
Ownership: Family of the founder, David Álvarez Díez.
U.S. CEO: Xavier Rabell, CEO of Eulen America. He took this position in June. Before, he was CEO of Areas USA, also based in Miami. Rabell has a degree in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University and an MBA from the IESE Business School, both in Barcelona, Spain.
Headquarters: 7200 Corporate Center Dr., Miami.
Employees: 3,200 in the U.S., with about 2,000 in Miami Dade. Of the 2,000, about 60 percent are full time and 40 percent part time. The group has more than 88,000 employees worldwide in 14 countries.
Clients: Domestic and international airlines at 14 airports in the U.S., including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Air France.
Financials: Eulen America logged revenues of about $110 million in 2017, and expects sales to reach $120 million this year. Grupo Eulen had revenues of $1.8 billion last year and is on track to reach $2 billion this year, the company said.
Competitors: Swissport International, Menzies Aviation, plus many smaller companies.
The difference: With a decade of experience in the U.S., and even more in international markets, Eulen has shown it can manage essential airline services — baggage handling, cabin cleaning and passenger services — quickly and efficiently, meeting the demanding schedules of its clients. It also stresses training and delivering quality service, so that its employees provide the best service to passengers.
Client view: “Eulen is our largest business partner at MIA, providing American with passenger assistance, cabin cleaning and other support services to run our more than 340 flights a day,” said Juan Gomez, managing director of customer care for American Airlines at MIA. AA in Miami has worked with Eulen for a decade, and they “have been a great partner with consistent performance, diligent and with the flexibility to respond to curve balls that our complex operation throws at them almost every minute,” he said. “We understand that their employees have as many interactions with our customers as we do. And as a result, we take time to develop their management and cultivate a strong working relationship so that they just don’t behave like a vendor, but like a true extension of our service.” Eulen’s strong operating background, service-oriented culture, and focus on safety make them a very competitive option, he said.
On the West Coast, Eulen provides a variety of services to Southwest Airlines at Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, Calif. “They handle boarding and deplaning of passengers, loading and offloading of baggage, cabin cleaning and other services,” said Larry Pitts, Southwest’s station manager at Long Beach Airport. “They’ve done a fantastic job for us,” he said. “Fast turnaround time [for flights] is very important, and their performance is consistently outstanding. When Southwest chooses a vendor, we don’t just look at cost. We’re very proud of our culture and we look for companies that are going to mirror what we stand for.”
Business lesson: When Eulen America started operating in Miami a decade ago, its was the Spanish company’s first foray into the U.S. market. There was some friction with employees, as new managers began to learn about the local market and employee relations. “It was a question of building the right management team, achieving the right balance,” Rabell said. “We were able to do that and develop policies that allowed us to be successful in our new market.”
Outlook: As domestic and international aviation continue to grow, Eulen America sees excellent opportunities in expanding existing markets in the U.S., selectively adding new airports and new airlines, Rabell said. The company also is planning to expand into Canada.
Joseph A. Mann Jr. can be reached at josephmannjr@gmail.com.
This story was originally published October 25, 2018 10:17 PM.