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Profiling the External Customer
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday January 16, 2013All organizations have one thing in common: they depend on customers to stay in business. There are many ways to make customers want, need, and even depend on particular products and services, but in order to create this relationship it is important to understand the customer. Customers are multidimensional, which means they do not come in standard packages and act the same way. They have different backgrounds, expectations and experiences. Further complicating the issue, a customer may be buying the same service at two different times for two totally different reasons. Consider a restaurant patron who arrives one day with a group of business associates, but visits on another day with a group of friends for a special occasion. The two... -
The Principle of Parsimony
By Art Kosatka - Wednesday January 16, 2013
I admit up front that we are often unjustifiably defined by a single questionable deed rather than our hundreds of intervening positive good deeds. Such is often the case with some TSA endeavors in the past, perhaps more so by those odd deeds encountered at the relatively uncontrolled outer edges of the system than in the belly of the beast at HQ. However, [you knew there’d be a “however”, didn’t you...] sometimes something strange originates at the core that just gives the folks in the field a head-scratching moment that’s hard to describe, much less make sense of. By now, we are all reasonably well-versed on the pleasures of TSA Pre-check, which allows pre-vetted persons the joy of a less stressful and more clothed trip... -
$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... -
One More Time — Will It Never Stop?
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday January 9, 2013Evidently, it has already happened this year—a teenaged student pilot took up some of his teenaged friends. The crash killed all aboard. This type of thing first came to my attention many decades ago when my cousin—also a student pilot—also took someone up for a ride. I was a young boy at the time—maybe 12?—and don’t remember the details—but do remember that one person was severely and permanently injured. But, hey, this doesn’t happen only to young students. Another news story shows that less than a month ago a 54-year-old student pilot crashed his airplane, killing himself and his passenger. His plane? A KING AIR! These are sad stories and totally unnecessary. The solution is simple. We need to create an atmosphere... -
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... -
Avoiding GSE Runway Incursions With GPS
By John Goglia - Tuesday January 8, 2013
For busy airports with not a lot of room to maneuver, runway incursions involving ground equipment happen all too frequently. While most do not cause significant injuries or damage to aircraft or the ground equipment involved, they do often result in operational delays that can be expensive in and of themselves. Clearly, if a runway incursion requires a go-around, there are added fuel costs and the costs inherent in delayed schedules. But even when no go-around results, there are certainly reams of paperwork to be filled out and questions to be answered by everyone involved. Of course, runway incursions always carry the risk of something more catastrophic – an actual collision with an aircraft. So avoiding these incursions has been... -
Lockout/Tagout Safety
By Ronald Donner - Thursday January 3, 2013Working around machinery, be it aircraft, maintenance equipment, or ground support equipment, comes certain risks. De-energizing systems for the accomplishment of maintenance is a key responsibility of all maintenance personnel. Without clear procedures, tags, or lockout devices, unfortunate events causing damage or bodily harm can occur. Utilizing effective lockout/tagout products and systems for both your aircraft maintenance facility and the aircraft being maintained not only complies with FAA and OSHA requirements, but protects your employees, equipment, and business. Todd Morrison from Master Lock Company and I discuss lockout/tagout products available on the market today and how these can support best practices for safety in... -
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... -
109 Years of Powered Flight
By Ronald Donner - Thursday December 20, 2012December 17, 1903 is celebrated by most as the date when powered flight began; the day when the Wright Brothers first successfully flew a powered airplane. Over the years and decades historians have written about the two brothers and their contribution to this great industry of ours. Thanks to the efforts of organizations such as our own AMTSociety constant recognition of Charles Taylor’s role in the first powered flight are not forgotten. Earlier this year the Aircraft Maintenance Technician Association (AMTA) under the lead of Ken MacTiernan who is also an AMTSociety director, led a fund raising effort and secured a space on the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Wall of Honor for the name of Charles E. Taylor. Having Charles...