Blog Archives
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Happy Birthday To Us!
By Steve Smith - Tuesday February 26, 2013We published our first issue 20 years ago this month. To celebrate our cover story is on the history of GSE. I bet you didn’t know that we can trace the family tree back to 1705, but a member of the Goldhofer family started a forge not far from today’s corporate headquarters. We’re also planning a special display at next month’s Aviation Pros LIVE, March 13-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Plus, we’ll be joined by Capt. Chuck Maire, the chairman of the National Museum of Commercial Aviation , which is in the process of organizing a GSE history exhibit of its own. Here are a few important dates in our history: 1883 – John Bean invents a continuous spray pump to battle bugs on his 10-acre almond orchard. Neighboring... -
Ground Workers Strike Over Job, Pay Cuts In Spain
By Steve Smith - Tuesday February 19, 2013
We were out yesterday on account of President’s Day. But what a lousy way to spend a day off. First, sitting in a dentist’s chair at 8 a.m. with my jaws wrenched open followed later that afternoon sitting in a lawyer’s office for two hours with at least one jaw continually hitting the ground. Good thing we didn’t have a ticket to fly on Spain’s flag carrier, Iberia. Yesterday began 15 days of strikes for this month and next. Monday’s protest also turned violent when police and striking ground workers and flight attendants clashed with police inside the Madrid-Barajas Airport. A total of 70,000 Iberia passengers are expected to be affected by the strike this week. The airline’s pilots are expected to join the strikes next... -
How The Halvorsen Loader Got Its Name
By Steve Smith - Tuesday February 12, 2013
We put the finishing touches on our February issue last week that celebrates our 20 th year publishing the leading voice of the ground support community. Our cover story is on the history of ground support equipment, which can trace its ancestry all the way back to 1705 when the Goldhofer family started a blacksmith’s shop. Ironically, the professional management of that company was in the news last week, too, when it announced the acquisition of Schopf - by comparison a teenager that got its start in 1945 when Jorg Schopf opened a design office to develop shovel loaders. We tried our best to celebrate the names behind the brand names throughout the 4,000-word feature. You’ve no doubt heard of Hobart Brothers, the company. But... -
Coming Attractions: Aviation PROs Live
By Steve Smith - Tuesday February 5, 2013We're putting the finishing touches on our upcoming AviationPros LIVE show, March 13-14, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We are very pleased to partner with Boyd Group International for next month’s event. Michael Boyd, chairman of Boyd Group International, will outline the major issues facing aviation today and provide insight into the best and worst outcomes for the key concerns. In addition to providing the keynote address at the show, Boyd will hold two educational sessions titled The New Skyscape and Navigating The New Future . Both of these sessions are promised to provide insight valuable to all aviation segments; general aviation, airlines, airports, and FBOs. Ground Support Worldwide will host two seminars each on... -
‘Never Say Never’
By Steve Smith - Tuesday January 29, 2013
Our headline is the answer Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines CEO gave to a question on whether his company would ever change its famous “Bags Fly Free” promise and start charging for baggage much like every other airline. The airline is a long holdout to such a common practice these days. It also doesn’t charge change fees, although last week the airline announced that for 40 bucks you could get to the front of the line to board. Of course, that leaves me wondering whether they make passengers who pay the fee line up in alpha order to determine who really gets to the front of the line. So will the airline start charging for baggage? In the same interview on CNBC, Kelly added that they didn’t have any plans to charge for baggage... -
Injustice For Swissport, Part II
By Steve Smith - Tuesday January 22, 2013
Several weeks ago, we wrote about how the legal deck surely seemed stacked against Swissport as it fought a corporate raid on its operations in the Ukraine. A recap: The owner of Ukraine International Airlines, which operates a joint ground handling operation with Swissport Ukraine, says Swissport violated his company’s minority rights in the deal. As a result, UIA, which holds a 30 percent stake, could buy out Swissport for a pittance. A final ruling by the courts was expected on Dec. 12, but that decision was postponed until Jan. 16 and, then, until Jan. 30. At stake is not only a business, but some $8 million in assets at three airports that UIA could effectively buy for $400,000. Swissport claims the allegations are... -
$6 Billion Off The Ala Carte Menu
By Steve Smith - Tuesday January 15, 2013
Go to a top-notch steak house and you know the routine. That $28 Porterhouse is exactly that. A steak on a nice white plate. Want a baked potato? How about the creamed spinach? Extra and extra. And you gladly fork it over for a complete meal. A Pavlov response is completely understandable for a steak house. But from the looks of numbers from the Department of Transportation, we’re also conditioned to paying ala carte prices for flying. Last year, Americans forked over more than $6 billion in baggage, cancellation and change fees on top of the ticket price. Baggage fees make up most of these new charges. Delta, United and American account for 60 percent of such fees among the airlines and are closing in at the $2 billion mark. So... -
Nominate Your Ground Support Leaders
By Steve Smith - Tuesday January 8, 20132012 is a week behind us, but take some time this week to consider a few leaders that have made a difference for you and your work. In particular, Ground Support Worldwide is looking to honor three Ground Support Leaders: Ground Support Lifetime Achievement : This award goes “to the person who has demonstrated commitment to the industry through numerous years of dedicated service.” Last year, we honored Bill Jacob, vice president, airline ground support equipment for UPS Airlines, who retired after spending 40 years in the GSE industry. Team Leader : This award honors “an individual who has taken a leadership role with personnel. It was a new award in 2012 when we named Greg McDermott, chief warrant officer for United... -
On-Time Ramp Performance
By Steve Smith - Wednesday January 2, 2013I read an interesting story last week on how airlines are posting their highest on-time arrival rates since 2003. According to the Department of Transportation, more than 80 percent of flights at U.S. airports landed 15 minutes inside the scheduled times. Of course, for a flight to arrive on time it helps to leave on time. JetBlue Airways, often at the bottom of the on-time ranks, no longer requires all its passengers to be in their seats before the cabin doors close. That allows the jet bridge to be disconnected while the flight attendants make their final checks. And to ensure a quick turn, the airline now requires every employee onboard from the pilots to the CEO to pitch in and start cleaning up the cabin. That’s shaved about... -
Boyd Group Featured At AviationPros LIVE
By Steve Smith - Thursday December 27, 2012Most of us are taking time off between Christmas and Jan. 2, the official first work day of 2013. However, we’ve put many of the finishing touches on next year’s AviationPro LIVE, March 13-14, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We've mentioned some GSE-related events a couple of blogs ago. However, the show will also feature Michael Boyd, chairman of Boyd Group International, in a keynote address covering the major issues facing the international aviation market. In addition, the Boyd Group will offer a separate educational session delving more deeply into these major issues including taxes, regulations and fuel issues. This year, Ground Support Worldwide will host two seminars each on March 13: Funding Options For Electric...
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Events
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- 05/19/13 - 05/22/13
- 85th Annual AAAE Conference and Exposition 2013
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Conference/Expo, Reno, NV
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- 05/21/13 - 05/23/13
- EBACE2013
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Conference/Expo, Geneva,
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- 05/21/13 - 05/22/13
- FAME in Jet Measurement and EI Aviation Fuels Test Method Conference
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Conference/Expo, Teddington,
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- 06/03/13 - 06/03/13
- Ultrasonic Testing Level 1 Course
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Training, Lewistown, PA
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- 06/03/13 - 06/06/13
- ACI-NA Marketing & Communications and JumpStart & Air Service Development Program
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Conference/Expo, Atlanta, GA
