Blog Archives
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Aviation Can't Catch a Break
- Tuesday April 27, 2010Just when the economy started perking up and many of us were feeling a little bit of hope for the future of aviation, the volcano in Iceland (I can’t pronounce it and I sure can’t spell it) spewed ash across the skies of Europe, closing hundreds of airports, with dismaying impact on global aviation. Thousands of flights were grounded to and from the United States. The volcano’s impacts seem like part of a trend that began even before 9/11, but was certainly magnified by that horrendous event. Aviation seems to be in the crosshairs of some diabolical force. If something bad happens in the world, it’s just that much worse for aviation. Skyrocketing fuel costs, for example, hurt a lot of industries, but perhaps none as... -
At What Cost Free Use of GSE?
- Tuesday April 6, 2010Doesn’t it get you when you come in to work in the morning and the equipment you left pre-positioned around an aircraft has been used? And left in an unacceptable condition — like dirty, greasy and out of place? Or when you leave the equipment fueled for the next day’s operations and, lo and behold, you run out of fuel in the middle of your busiest time because someone used it overnight and conveniently forgot to refuel? Used to be that mechanics for the airlines had free use of ground equipment because it was the airline’s equipment and the airline’s responsibility to maintain it. But now, with most ground handling contracted out, it’s the ground handling companies that are responsible for the equipment. But many airline... -
Everything Old is Not New Again — at Least When it Comes to GSE
- Monday March 22, 2010Back when I was running my own FBO, replacing worn out or obsolete GSE meant comparing new to used or refurbished equipment. Original equipment owners — the airlines in those days — were much more likely to replace or upgrade their equipment once it was depreciated. Good quality, used or refurbished GSE was plentiful, although finding it involved old-fashioned phone and leg work. In the days before online search engines made shopping for used equipment a fingertip away, finding primo equipment meant calling or visiting your contacts at different airports and airlines, finding out who was getting rid of what and who had a good reputation for well-maintained equipment. A well-placed contact could be an excellent source for good equipment... -
GSE Emissions Study — You Can Help
- Tuesday March 9, 2010The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has issued a request for proposals to “develop a tutorial that describes GSE operations and identifies potential strategies to reduce emissions from powered GSE for use by GSE owners and operators and to conduct a representative inventory of powered GSE at airports to help the industry assess the contribution of GSE to air quality impacts at airports.” The TRB is an agency of Congress mandated to study transportation issues. [Full disclosure – I have been asked by a potential bidder to participate as a consultant] Whoever ends up doing the study will be successful only with the full cooperation of GSE operators. Why do I think GSE... -
Airports: The Economic Engines that Do
- Monday February 8, 2010Maybe all the years of noise and environmental complaints have made airport managers publicity-shy, but unless politicians get the message that airports are huge economic engines for their constituencies, they will not get the stimulus money needed to put people back to work in aviation. I have not heard of too many airport projects that were the beneficiaries of much-needed stimulus funds and I am afraid that if we don’t mount a significant campaign to bring attention to the airport jobs that could be created, we won’t get any second-round stimulus funds either. Politicians need to know that many airport projects – such as resurfacing projects – are labor intensive and can put a lot of people back to work quickly in trades... -
Virtual Driver Training: The New Reality
- Tuesday January 19, 2010Whether fueled by low wages, cut-backs in overtime or a myriad other possible reasons, driver turnover on the ramp is a reality and can be costly when inexperienced drivers are left to learn on the job. Many airport drivers get little more than a driving test and some OJT before they start driving in a complex ramp environment. But inexperience, and inattention, of course, can be really costly, with slight dents and dings being extremely expensive to repair. The costs of a serious accident with an aircraft can be staggering. Total ground damage costs globally can run in the hundreds of millions annually. With new virtual airport driver training software, improved driver safety, can be as close as a computer screen. I recently had... -
Safety Doesn't Take a Holiday
- Tuesday January 5, 2010A sad reminder last week that the rush of holiday traffic doesn’t condone skimping on safety requirements. A routine deicing operation turned tragic at Calgary when standard precautions may not have been followed. A worker was found dead of head injuries outside his deicing truck where he had been working alone – perhaps without a safety harness - to deice a 737. The bucket was extended about 20 feet according to press reports. How he came to fall out of the bucket may never be established but it does remind us of the importance of following standard safety protocols: in this case, always wearing a safety harness and always having two-person crews whenever a high-lift device is used, with one person on the ground. In... -
Finding Fault Can Be a Full-time Job
- Tuesday December 8, 2009There’s never been any such thing as a routine accident when a piece of ground equipment hits an aircraft. If we’re lucky enough that no one is injured, damage to the aircraft alone can quickly mount into the thousands, if not the hundreds of thousands. A belt-loader or a baggage cart hitting an engine nacelle or getting sucked into an engine can cause extensive — and expensive — damage. Damage to the fuselage or wings can also be costly to repair. Well, someone has to pay for that damage, the equipment owner, the operator or the maintainer. It used to be that the owner, operator and maintainer were one and the same, usually the airline. If an accident happened, the airline was responsible and its insurance coverage would... -
Long-Range Aircraft Spell Long-Term Impacts
- Tuesday November 24, 2009When I started in the aviation business in the 60s and 70s, aircraft range dictated intermediate stops for refueling on long haul flights. This meant aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, needed to stop in Honolulu; New York to Tel Aviv meant a stop in London or Paris; Chicago to Tokyo required a stop in Seattle or Anchorage, and so on. With all those stops, of course, there were increased revenues at those airports for fueling, ground handling of the airplanes, catering, and in terminal shops and restaurants. Now with improved technology providing more efficient aircraft with longer fuel ranges, it is fast becoming possible to connect any two points on the globe without the need for an intermediate or refueling stop. For... -
NBAA Convention: Wings of Hope for Business Aviation
- Thursday November 5, 2009While attendance was somewhat down from prior years, the mood at this year’s NBAA Convention in Orlando was decidedly upbeat. Despite the beating corporate aircraft took earlier in the year in the media, and in the mouths of politicians looking to get their faces and names in the media, most people I spoke with were optimistic that the economic tide was turning for business aircraft. A number of companies announced an expansion of their air charter operations, which is, of course, good news for FBOs and ultimately ground equipment suppliers. I spoke with equipment manufacturers and suppliers exhibiting at the convention who uniformly reported increased interest in their products. While that interest may not all translate into...
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