Ramp Wish List for 2011

Jan. 3, 2011
A new year always brings thoughts of years past and the year to come. My wishes for those who work on the ramp are a combination of unfulfilled wishes from those past years to new ones for the coming year and the challenges we still face in this slowly — very slowly — recovering economy.  Of course, I wish for brighter news on the economic front.  But these are a couple of ramp-specific wishes! From the days when I ran my own FBO to the present, I consistently wish for a way to make equipment operators as considerate of airport equipment as they are of their own vehicles. It is endlessly perplexing to me that so much damage occurs, and no one knows how it happened — or how to prevent it. I’ve seen quarter-inch thick steel plate on equipment  folded like a piece of paper, and no one knows how the damage occurred.  And lesser damage is incalculable; except it makes maintenance of the equipment so needlessly expensive and exasperating. Have cameras on the ramp helped at all?  Would certainly like to hear from those of you who have licked this problem, and how you did it. Flat tires have been a consistent problem as well, and I would like to see OEMs adopt the latest in tire technology that includes puncture-resistance and run-flat technology. So much time and effort could be spared if we didn’t have to deal with flat tires on equipment. So these are some of my 2011 wishes.  What’s on your wish list?