Q. Who are your customers?
A. Our customers are airlines, ground
handlers, defense contractors, military, freight/cargo companies, regionals,
- just about everyone. We've definitely had more activity with defense contractors
and ground handlers than I would have predicted. We've also had more activity
with the ground handlers this year than we did with the airlines and the ground
handlers have continued to buy.
Q. What resources do you use
to help you perform your job?
A. We have a very strong Intranet within
TLD. There's a section on the website for news where we send news items from
magazines, newspapers, etc. in to our webmaster who then uploads this news to
our Intranet. We're very proud of our website to use as a tool - we have manuals
online, we offer parts online, and we can partner with our customers this way.
We also have a very strong after-sales team. We have service centers all over
the country to help our customers. I get a lot of information by networking
and keeping in contact with customers and other suppliers. The tradeshows also
are good networking opportunities. I look forward to the Vegas show [GSE Expo]
next year.
Q. What are some of the challenges
you encounter in your day-to-day?
A. The condition of the market and trying
to forecast for our factories. The challenge is trying to determine when the
customer will actually place the firm orders. It's become a very competitive
marketplace. One thing we've done during this downtime is a lot of R&D, and
in the past 18 months, we've rolled out a number of new products. We were able
to do this R&D because the shareholders have stood behind us and want to move
the company forward.
Q. What are some of the trends/changes
you've seen while in this industry?
A. I've never seen the industry suffer
the way it has these past 18 months or so. Even when deregulation hit in the
late 70's and early 80's. It's always been cyclical, but never like this. September
11th did keep people from flying, as did Iraq and SARS. However, we feel we
are now on the up-turn of the crisis. Consolidation is always a trend - we've
seen it with GSE, manufacturers, and with customers. When a merger makes sense,
it will happen.
Q. What was one of the more
memorable moments in your aviation career?
A. Probably being in the air on 9/11/01.
I left Hartford, CT at 8am, heading west. We were to stop in Minneapolis, but
like an hour early, the pilot came on and said, "Flight attendants, prepare
the cabin for arrival." I thought to myself, this doesn't make sense to be an
hour early heading west. He was getting ready to land and had the gear down
when all of a sudden, he banked and did a hard 180 and said, "Folks, I have
to make an announcement...The United States government has declared a state
of national emergency. All aircraft must be put down on the ground, immediately."
We put down in Michigan. One thing I always tell my wife and kids is what flight I'm on but this time I didn't. They knew where I was going, but they did not have my itinerary. So, I just rented a car with two other people and we drove back non-stop. It was quite a night.
