Many elements of the ground support industry are nuanced and task specific. So, it can be difficult for someone new to grasp some GSE concepts, especially in a maintenance setting.
A self-proclaimed geek about HVAC and air conditioning, Tim Fox recognized this and the program manager – facilities, engineering and maintenance at United Airlines took the opportunity to educate those in the industry by creating a whitepaper offering an overview of pre-conditioned air (PCA) units.
“For 23 years of my 29 ½-year career at United Airlines, I was actually a technician on this fixed gate equipment,” Fox says, noting this hands-on experience working with fixed-gate assets like boarding bridges, PCAs, ground power units and hangar assets has been critical to his current job duties. “And I have a 35-year background in HVAC and refrigeration.”
In his role with the airline, Fox would often be dispatched to stations where a perceived issue with a PCA was taking place. If a PCA unit was the problem, he would investigate and complete a report.
“Sometimes it would actually come from someone noticing excessive APU burn at a gate and investigate why,” Fox says.
“In a nutshell, I see some commonalities of why some of this equipment isn’t necessarily performing how we would like it to.”
By putting these common issues together in one location, Fox’s whitepaper allows personnel to troubleshoot more efficiently.
“One thing that led me to want to do this is to educate – my own leadership, our users on the ground and even the people that manufacturer the equipment,” he explains. “‘Here’s what we’re seeing. And here’s what I think we could do to make this a little bit better.’”
There are also environmental reasons putting pressure on efficient PCA operation.
“There’s a very big push at airports to not use APUs to cool the aircraft when it’s at the gate. So, these PCAirs have to work as good as the aircraft’s internal climate control system,” Fox says. “At times, very often, they don’t work as well. That unit on the aircraft works very well, so it’s tough to mimic the performance of that with a ground machine.”
To complete the whitepaper, Fox collaborated with manufacturers of PCAs and received stellar cooperation. He says GSE manufacturers are inclined to contribute to a project like this to assuage potential complaints from customers.
“They often get called and told their machine is malfunctioning,” Fox says. “In actuality, it’s how the airline or the airport is trying to use the machine. We’re not always using it correctly, but the manufacturer gets blamed.”
The whitepaper was originally written in a previous form three years ago. Fox rewrote it with more United Airlines references, so it could be used as an internal reference tool. Then about six months ago, he broadened it again to better benefit the industry.
“I tried to keep it a bit basic, but I did have to get a little technical when it came to explaining certain things,” he says.
Fox says his career goal is to gain as much knowledge of gate equipment and operations as his United Airlines colleague and mentor, Dick Cloud.
The whitepaper, titled “Pre Conditioned Air and Providing Comfortable Aircraft Cabin Conditions on the Ground” can be downloaded at www.AviationPros.com/21089654.
