Blog Archives
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Is High Turnover On The Ramp Causing Simple Errors?
By John Goglia - Tuesday April 9, 2013
When I read reports of mistakes no novice should even make, I worry that high turnover is eroding safety margins on ramps and airports. The l atest incident that came to my attention took place in Ottawa, Canada, but could have taken place anywhere in the United States or the world - at least the parts of the world that need aircraft deicing, where high turnover makes training and staffing a challenge. In this particular incident, a Sunwing 737 headed for Varadaro, Cuba had to make an emergency landing back to Ottawa after smoke was reported in the cabin. The smoke turned out to be vapor from anti-icing fluid, which as you all know, when it gets into an engine will vaporize and can then be drawn into the cabin through the... -
Are You a GOOD Customer?
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday April 3, 2013In the 1980s and 1990s, businesses across the country were taught the now-common-mantra that "The customer is king." This mindset established a couple of principles that everyone in business was to follow: Any product or service's design, production, distribution, marketing, and advertising should have the customer as the central focus for all decision-making The customer is boss The customer is always right The evidence is clear: employees and service providers who really believe that the customer is king do a better job at delivering service and establishing greater customer loyalty. At the same time, experience has also shown that the customer is not always right---especially in complex, high tech, high frequency, high... -
More Ground Support Equipment History
By Steve Smith - Tuesday April 2, 2013
We heard from a few readers recently about our cover story in February’s issue on “The History Of Ground Support Equipment,” as well as last week’s blog on a boarding bridge installed in Atlanta, which in itself was the result of another reader’s email. Last week, we heard from a reader who promised more information on the first boarding bridge for regional aircraft. Stay tuned for more on that. But about a week before, we received a long email from a retired GSE veteran: “I started in GSE for American Airlines in 1963. The only tugs we had at the time were made by Clark. They were the CT-21. At least half of the tugs we had were made prewar.” “We also had David Clark headsets at the time. I still have my... -
ARSA 2013 Annual Repair Symposium
By Ronald Donner - Thursday March 28, 2013Sarah MacLeod welcomed everyone on Thursday, March 21 st in her usual spirited style. Ms. MacLeod as most of you know is executive director and a founder of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. Throughout the day ARSA staff, industry representatives, and regulators provided updates to the membership regarding recent ARSA activities on the legislative and regulatory fronts, rulemaking updates, along with perspectives from EASA and CASA representatives. John Hickey, Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety with the FAA, addressed the ARSA membership making several interesting comments worth repeating. Mr. Hickey shared, “We are in some very difficult times” and went on to describe how sequestration will recast... -
Branding Airports with Taglines
By Agnes Huff - Wednesday March 27, 2013
Who can’t relate to the Nike tagline, Just Do It?, Apple’s Think Different or McDonald’s, I’m Loving It? These iconic brands developed taglines that are memorable and influential. In the advertising community, taglines appear to be slightly controversial today. Some people say they are on their way to obsolescence. Others opine that a great tagline used appropriately is the single most effective way to clearly and concisely communicate a brand’s message or even revive a tired, worn-out brand. A tagline is a differentiating, short and succinct message that is optimally less than 7 words and can be used in conjunction with the logo to communicate one strong and powerful brand message. To be most effective, it has to... -
Being a Good Customer
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday March 27, 2013What does it take to be a good customer? Take a moment now to think about your best customers and write down some words or phrases that describe them. Here is a common list people come up with in this exercise: They communicate their expectations very clearly When things change, they tell us—they give us a heads up whenever possible Honest, polite Friendly Patient They do not make assumptions Interestingly enough, all of these qualities are the same ones that describe good customer service delivery. While good customer service delivery is a product of many factors, it is reasonable to suggest that customers who exhibit the qualities above will likely receive excellent service in return. Such customers realize... -
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
By Art Kosatka - Wednesday March 27, 2013I promised myself I would not join the fray on sequestration or the prohibited items list, but I can’t help myself when such stories take a left turn on the off-ramp to Strangeville. Let’s begin with a pop quiz: With sequestration causing huge budget cuts in every office of every Federal agency; FAA closing ATC towers, cutting essential air service to small markets, furloughing government employees one day per week - 20% of their income, and cancelling all White House tours to save the Secret Service a few bucks in overtime pay, what would you say is TSA’s latest contribution to cutting costs during the economic crisis? Good guess!! A $50 million one-year contract to buy TSA screeners new uniforms, announced 2 days before the... -
Just Where Was The First Boarding Bridge Installed?
By Steve Smith - Tuesday March 26, 2013
We heard from Joe Fuqua of Delta Air Lines and who also sits on our Editorial Advisory Board about last month’s cover story on “The History Of Ground Support Equipment.” Joe filled us in more on who was behind creating the first boarding bridge, and points to a different airport than the two - San Francisco and LaGuardia - which are typically credited for the first such installations in 1959. Until we hear otherwise, we think we can at least all agree on the year since Joe sent us a scanned-in copy of the October 1959 issue of Airlift published by American Aviation Publishing. On page 47, in an article headlined, “2 a.m. Brainstorm: Delta’s Jetway,” one Glenn Hughie writes about how Delta developed the original... -
Battery Myth No. 3
By Todd Allen - Monday March 25, 2013
TRUE OR FALSE: Electric vehicles just transfer emissions from the vehicle to the power plant generating the electricity used to recharge the batteries. FALSE: While there's some truth to this trade-off, electric GSE represents a really good trade! Electric vehicles still have a carbon footprint, meaning that carbon dioxide is produced in the total operation of the vehicle. It takes a lot of electricity to recharge batteries, and most of that electricity is generated by a power plant burning fossil fuels. Using the U.S. average, approximately 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide is generated every year to operate a single bag tractor. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But a comparable diesel tractor generates approximately 75,000... -
A Dangerous Reminder For GSE Operators Everywhere
By John Goglia - Monday March 25, 2013
Reading about the driverless van incident at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport reminds me of how much we can learn from each other’s mistakes and, hopefully, keep from making them ourselves. According to Canadian news reports, the incident involved an unattended van that was left running and in gear. That driverless van started rolling and managed to roll across an active runway just as an Air Canada flight was landing. Much of the news focused on why the Air Canada flight didn’t abort its landing after allegedly being ordered to do so more than once by air traffic controllers. But for ramp operators, the more important question is, of course, why was that van left running in gear without a driver? Normal precautions would...
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Events
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- 06/17/13 - 06/23/13
- Paris Air Show
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Conference/Expo, Paris,
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- 06/18/13 - 06/19/13
- Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings Training Program
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Training, Andover, KS
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- 06/19/13 - 06/20/13
- 2rd China Aerospace Propulsion Technology Summit
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Conference/Expo, Shenyang,
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- 06/24/13 - 06/24/13
- Ultrasonic Testing Level 2 Training Course
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Training, Houston, TX
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- 06/25/13 - 06/27/13
- SMART Terminal Asia 2013
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Conference/Expo, Jakarta,
