Lessons from NBAA's Static Display

Kim Showalter heads up Showalter Flying Service based at the Orlando Executive Airport, site of the upcoming 2005 NBAA Convention's Static Display of aircraft. The event that was originally scheduled to take place in New Orleans, but Hurricane Katrina has forced the association to relocate its premier aviation show to November 9-11 at the Orlando Convention Center (www.nbaa.org). Showalter's crew has handled the Static Display three times before, along with a host of outsiders either brought in from other operations or local volunteers, many from the local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter. Kim reports that typically SFS has some 35 full-time employees; for the Static, she says the daily staff will number about 100. One of the most interesting aspects of the Static- other than the millions of dollars in business aircraft situated on one ramp- is the learning experience, both for Showalter and Sheltair (the competing FBO at Executive) employees and for those from other FBOs who have volunteered to help. Says Kim Showalter, "We will pay to bring in probably ten line service people from other FBOs around the country. We've done this so many times, we go back to the same ones- Banyan in Ft. Lauderdale; McCreery in McAllen [TX]; Aero Sport in San Augustine [FL]. "There are only four or five airports in the country that ever get to do this. It's a great opportunity, and a great opportunity for our guys to work with other people. This is where people are sending you the very best they have, and how lucky are we that they take the best away from their businesses [to help]. And they take that experience home. "We pay them; we feed them; we clothe them, and put them up in hotels." There's a learning experience here, one that Showalter Flying Service and a few others across the industry have realized and capitalized on. Perhaps NBAA in future years can put together some type of competition which would allow line and customer service employees to compete for the chance to work the static. Could be a good way for FBO employees around the country to get a first-hand look at how one of the premier events in business aviation is handled. It's unparalleled direct, on-the-job training. In fact, there may be a lesson here for other fixed base operations and airports as well on the value of sharing job experiences by way of sharing employees. We welcome industry input.