New Priorities
Veteran manager shares how his FBO refocused its line operations
By Chuck Halderman, VP, Operations, Denver jetCenter
August 2002
Denver
jetCenter is one busy FBO. DJC averages 3,200 fuelings per month, 1,000-plus
aircraft tows per month, and services over 750,000 square feet of hangars.
This creates a lot of opportunity for accidents.
First, we needed to become proactive in
accident prevention. In the past we waited for an accident before a policy
was created, and then only addressed the issues associated with the specific
accident.
POLICY NOTICE
DATE: 3/31/00
TO: Crew Chiefs, Training Dept., & Assistant Crew Chiefs
FROM: Larry Ulrich / Chuck Halderman
Re: Safety clearances and use of wing/tail walkers in "community"
(multiple aircraft) hangars
Denver
jetCenter has adopted strict policies regard-ing the use of wing
walkers and minimum clearances when moving aircraft in and out of
our "community" hangars (i.e. Hangars 30W, 30E, 2, 7 and
14, etc.). The following rules apply for moving aircraft into or
out of these hangars:
• SAFETY CLEARANCES
Clearance of AT LEAST 3-feet must
be maintained at all times when moving an aircraft in or out of
all "community" (multiple aircraft) hangars.
• WING AND TAIL WALKERS
All EJA aircraft hangar movements
require two wing walkers at all times.
All other aircraft in "community"
(multiple aircraft) hangars require at least one wing or tail walker
who has continuous radio contact and/or line of sight communications
with the tug driver at all times when moving aircraft in or out
of a hangar.
No employee will move aircraft in or out of our hangar unless these guidelines are followed. Failure to comply with these proce-dures will be grounds for termination. Remember you can use crew members, DJC management, shop personnel, Mayo [Aviation] personnel, or whoever you feel is competent to act as a wing or tail walker. Always use conservative good judgement when moving aircraft. When in doubt Stop and get help BEFORE an accident occurs.
Second, safety had to take priority over perceived service conflicts.
The ultimate service to customers is a safe operation. The most important
thing to understand is that if we continue to have accidents, we become
uninsurable and are out of business.
We formed an Accident Preven-tion Committee,
consisting of Larry Ulrich (then our president), myself (VP of operations),
a morning senior crew chief, an afternoon senior crew chief, our training
coordinator, and the director of safety.
The first order of business was to establish
a primary goal: an accident-free environment with a minimal impact on
our level of service. Making an accident-free environment the number one
priority - and customer service the second priority - meant we would sometimes
have to say "no" to customer requests, if it compromised safety.
A qualification process
We narrowed the focus of the committee
to towing/hangar accidents. We established policies where only our most
experienced tow people were towing jet and turboprop aircraft. We designed
a five-step towing qualification system that matched experienced personnel
with the towing and hangaring of larger, more expensive aircraft.
Five levels of towing qualifications were
created. To give them that Rocky Mountain flair, skiing monikers were
used to designate the level of qualification, and lapel pins were created
to recognize each line service technician's (LST) level of experience.
New Hire. A new hire Line Service Technician
would start with observation and wing-walking to gain experience. During
this time the new hire would accomplish a minimum of 100 supervised tows,
after which the the LST would qualify for a "check ride" by
the training coordinator, and a second check ride with the director of
safety before being signed off to progress to beginner status and a $0.25/hour
pay raise.
• Beginner
(Green). As a beginner, a line service technician may tow piston aircraft
ramp to ramp. The beginner LST must complete another 140 tows, accident-free,
broken down into specific aircraft types and towing circumstances. Two
check rides are given prior to promotion to intermediate status and another
$0.25/hour pay raise.
• Intermediate (Blue). An Inter-mediate LST may tow piston aircraft ramp to ramp, and single-engine piston aircraft in/out of port-a-ports and covered shelters. The Intermediate LST must successfully complete a designated number of supervised jet and turboprop towing operations inside hangars and on the ramp to move to advanced status and another $0.25/hour pay raise.
• Advanced (Black Diamond). An Advanced LST is allowed to tow small and medium jet and turboprop aircraft on the ramp and with wing walkers inside hangars. An Advanced LST must complete a designated number of aircraft tows in a one-year period and have no accidents to move to expert status and another $0.25/hour pay raise.
Incentives, policies
The committee next decided to establish
incentives, policies, and procedures that would ensure employee participation
in accomplishment of an accident-free airport environment. Some specific
procedures were developed:
• Three-foot clearance from all obstacles
when putting an aircraft in/out of a community hangar. (To eliminate all
doubt as to what three feet is, a yardstick is mounted on all tugs.) We
have had to tell some customers we would no longer move their aircraft
in and out of their hangar.
• Use of one or more wing walkers
for a multiple use hangar.
• All aircraft stored inside hangars
will have a minimum of two sets of chocks prior to unhooking the tow bar
from the tug. Jet and turboprop aircraft parked on the ramp will always
have a set of chocks on the nose and a set of chocks on the main. Piston
aircraft parked on the ramp will either be tied down or all three tires
will be chocked. For all ramp chocking operations, at least one set of
chocks must be a rubber set.
- Ramp vehicles and fuel trucks will never
be driven toward the aircraft and will be parked facing away from the
aircraft with the left front tire chocked.
In order for the program to be successful, we need the support and the
participation of every employee. We created specific financial incentives
to promote safe towing and support a no-accident environment. We felt
every employee must be involved in order for this to be successful on
a 24-hour basis.
The company contributes a set amount of
dollars every month and every quarter to the employee bonus program. This
is distributed among employees each quarter when an accident-free month
and an accident-free quarter is achieved.
This is significant money, averaging $700
per employee per quarter. In addition, the company contributes to the
crew chiefs a set amount of dollars every quarter, and to each supervisor
for every accident-free quarter.
The company pays additional dollars each
quarter to the two individuals who performed the highest number of tows
for each quarter and the second highest amount each quarter. We have focused
the company bonus program almost exclusively on incentives paid for an
accident-free environment. We feel this establishes a focus from the ground
up as well as a peer-group environment - we watch out for each other while
watching out for our financial well-being.
Employees with an expert tow status are
paid a set dollar amount each time they act as trainer for a junior grade
tow person on a tow operation. The company contributes a set dollar amount
to the bonus for every safe tow operation completed on a monthly basis.
