AircraftOwner Online

Television reality shows have chronicled the lives of 20-somethings trying to carve a dream out of the big city. They’ve provided a window into the daily, if sometimes bizare lives of everyone from mega-stars like Ozzy Osbourne to star wanna-bes like Kim Kardashian. Reality shows have made stars of tough bounty hunters, custom bike builders, people with scads of kids, bachelors looking for love and Atlanta housewives. Particularly when the series revolves around people who do a unique job like Ice Road  Truckers or Ax Men, the shows can be as informative as they are entertaining. But let’s face it; we really watch to see these folks implode under the spotlight of created fame. It’s one of life’s guilty pleasures.

Well, buckle up! It’s finally our turn.  The aviation industry is about to get its own “tell all” reality show. Fly Girls is scheduled to debut soon on CW. The reality series will follow the lives of five flight attendants working for Virgin America airlines. Virgin exec Richard Branson may even cadge a recurring guest star role.

Expect considerable melodrama as the Fly Girls — naturally, all young, beautiful 20-year-olds full of hopes and ambitions — hop in and out of their Los Angeles “crash pad” in between flights. The network promises plenty of jet-set dating and partying to keep viewers tuned in. Expect the usual gossip, infighting and cattiness that seem to be a reality show staple. Let’s hope there’s also at least a nod to the realities of life in the aviation industry.

Might be fun to create a scenario where the gals get a taste of the other arms of the industry: reservations, baggage handling and maintenance. With our Lindy motorized aircraft tugs, the Fly Girls could still wear their heels while maneuvering planes!

Not long ago the future of FBOs was looking pretty rosy. Business travel was booming worldwide and aviation industry gurus predicted a robust future for FBO operations. Then the U.S. economy tanked sending  global markets sprawling. Financial woes pulled the plug first on personal airline travel, then on business travel. Airlines were an early casualty of the recession, pulling down FBOs and other support services with them.

For FBOs the recession has caused a host of headaches with decreased airplane volume being just the tip of the iceberg. The financial problems of their customers mean FBOs must cope with an increasing number of slow pays and other financial risks that affect their own cash flow. To protect their financial future, FBOs are being forced to run leaner and meaner than ever before.

For many FBOs that means a decrease in staff size and more efficient utilization of service staff. Versatile Lindy aircraft tugs can be used to easily and quickly maneuver aircraft — both with or without pants — in and out of hangers and around FBO maintenance and service facilities. The ergonomic design of Lindy aircraft tractors allows any worker, regardless of physical strength, to easily maneuver aircraft, allowing FBO operators to make maximum use of personnel. Use of electric powered Lindy aircraft tow products can also decrease FBO fuel costs.

As the nation moves slowly out of recession, airline industry experts say savvy FBO operators should prepare to compete in a more competitive business environment. Customers are expected to do more comparison pricing and even consider cheaper, less regulated  foreign FBOs for major maintenance service. In order to better manage costs and remain financially competitive, U.S. FBOs will have to offer a broader range of services, including more in-house maintenance. Using Lindy aircraft tugs can help FBOs decrease operational costs and remain competitive.

Hope is on the horizon. The airline industry is starting to climb out of the recession, but it could be years before business travel returns to its pre-recession level, if it ever does. Pre-recession, business travel was the most important growth segment for passenger airlines. Unfortunately, the recession forced frequent corporate travelers to adopt less expensive telecommunication strategies. While a mild increase in business travel is anticipated as the recession eases, few analysts expect a return to "the glory days."

The decline of business travel is just one of many pressures forcing change in the airline industry. FBO managers report a decline in customer loyalty directly related to the recession. Cash-strapped aircraft operators shop around for FBOs willing to offer a better price. As reported in our October 19 post, some airlines are taking their maintenance and repair business to foreign FBOs to take advantage of cheap labor.

To survive FBOs will need to provide more services at a better value - do more with less. It's the same problem most U.S. businesses are struggling with these days. Lindy's versatile, ergonomically-designed aircraft tugs allow FBOs to maximize their use of employees while minimizing the number of employees needed to keep operations running smoothly.

Some interesting and creative solutions to improving airline industry revenues are popping up. In Columbus, Ohio, Port Columbus officials recently entered into a five-year pact with 10 airlines guaranteeing them a share of airport revenues in exchange for maintaining and improving services for Columbus travelers and shippers. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority agreed to hold down costs on rent, landing fees and other airline charges. Cooperative partnerships like this could be the wave of the future.

If you feel a logistical nightmare coming on, you've probably read about the new federal aviation cargo screening rules scheduled to go into effect in August 3, 2010. In just 8 short months all freight shipped aboard commercial airlines will have to be screened for bombs just like suitcases are screened now. Federal and aviation industry officials are becoming more than a little concerned that a lack of screeners will ground thousands of tons of cargo.

Sending an airplane into the sky is an expensive proposition. It's common practice to stuff airplane cargo holds as full as possible to maximize cost efficiency. There's no profit in flying empty space! As many as half a million boxes or 10 million pounds of cargo are shipped on U.S. passenger planes every day - almost none of it scrutinized by security. And therein lies the problem - and the risk.

Shipping cargo is an important revenue source for airlines, FOB operations and the entire network of companies that provide support services to the airline industry. Requiring that every item of cargo placed in an airplane be inspected by an as yet non-existent security force has the potential to be a huge problem. In cities across the country, shippers are currently meeting with federal transportation authorities to review certification requirements in the hopes of creating, training and implementing a security force, procedures and facilities before the August deadline.

The issue presenting the biggest problem is that federal law requires that each item be individually screened by a human, x-ray machine, explosive-detecting equipment or trained dogs. The law is an obvious mismatch for current shipping practices which prepackages freight on pallets. At least the law doesn't require cargo items to be screened at the airport as luggage is. The TSA is permitted to certify private firms to screen cargo at any point in the shipping process as long as secure delivery is provided to airlines.

Next time: CartCaddys to the rescue!

Last week's frightening failure to the FAA's National Airspace Data Interchange Network pointed highlighted just one more glaring problem faced by the beleaguered airline industry. Cascading flight delays annoyed and already irritated public fed up with perpetual delays, equipment failures, burgeoning ticket surcharges and the newest brouhaha over expiring frequent flyer miles. Man, airlines just can’t seem to catch a break these days.

Initially, the FAA communication failure that prevented automatic flight plan filing provoked fears of terrorist cyber attack. The real problem - the FAA's aging information technology system - should be no less frightening. The problem may not have captured the blogosphere like consumer complaints over the cancellation of frequent flyer miles, but its potential to disrupt the lives of frequent or even casual travelers is far greater.

Transportation experts have been warning for years that America has failed to keep up with her now aging transportation systems, whether it's highway pavements and traffic patterns or airline communication technology. Infrastructure issues have taken a back seat for too long on Congress and the White House's list of priorities. That lack of attention is catching up to us now.

Unfortunately, realization of the severity of the problem comes at a time when the country is beset by so many even more catastrophic problems that degrading airline technology systems barely have the opportunity to register on the national conscience. The danger is that the next FAA computer glitch might not be so tame. Instead of merely annoying passengers and ground crews with schedule delays, the next FAA computer failure could affect planes in the air, putting passengers and flight crews at serious risk.

Under pressure to cut carbon emissions and beef up fuel economy, the FAA and airline industry are examining a number of interesting proposals geared at making the industry more eco-friendly. While airline transportation currently accounts for only 2% of worldwide carbon emissions, "we are a very visible 2%," Paul Steele, director of environmental initiatives for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) told Time magazine (Oct. 19, 2009). Air transport associated carbon emissions are also expected to rise in the near future as air traffic increases in developing countries.

Here are some of the new ideas on the drawing boards:

• Jet biofuels made from algae and coconuts will cut carbon emissions. Test flights by Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic have been successful. Commercial availability is expected in 2010.
• Digitizing air traffic control will increase fuel efficiency. The FAA proposes to replace its current radar-based control system with a satellite/GPS system. Voice communication with control towers would be replaced by real time computer cockpit updates. Instead of relying on verbal control tower updates, pilots would be able to "see" and track air traffic around them.
• A satellite traffic control system could enable more direct flight paths, shaving minutes - and fuel and carbon emissions - from flight schedules.
• Using a continuous descent approach instead of the current stepped runway approach could cut fuel waste by allowing pilots to decrease thrust just once from as far as 40 miles out and "coast" in on a gentle descent path. UPS experiments have saved the freight carrier 250 to 465 pounds of fuel per flight.
• As a bonus to passengers, the FAA believes NextGen computerization could reduce flight delays by as much as 40%, saving another billion gallons of fuel.

On the ground, using Lindy ergonomically-designed, battery-operated aircraft tugs reduces carbon emissions while created a healthier, safer environmentfor airline workers and passengers.

The Taliban are rampaging. We lost the Olympics to Rio. Time for some good news. We couldn't pass up this great story about two down on their luck aircraft mechanics who found their pot of "gold" in Alaska. Reported by Elizabeth Bluemink in the Anchorage Daily News, the tale starts with two good ole Memphis boys, Carlos Nelson and Roy Adhern, who nine years ago quit their jobs as FedEx mechanics, pooled their savings and retirement money, and headed north to Alaska to seek their fortune.

Their dream was almost derailed before it started when the maintenance van holding all their tools and supplies broke down in British Columbia, hundreds of miles from their goal, Anchorage. The two friends managed to convince a flatbed driver to carry the van on to Anchorage which he did for $10,000, a bargain even a decade ago. Nelson and Adhern followed in their sturdy Dodge pickup and on a wing and a prayer opened Pegasus Aircraft Maintenance.

From that all-American start, the two entrepreneurs built a multimillion-dollar aircraft maintenance business that now employees 100 and serves Anchorage's largest fleet of air-cargo jumbo jets. Since nearly item used in Alaska goes in and out of Anchorage by plane business is booming. When Nelson and Adhern set off for Alaska, the "gold" they were seeking wasn't bright and shiny; it was covered with axle grease, engine oil, sweat and hard work. But the end result was just as rich. The friends just sold their thriving business for an undisclosed, but we're sure very lucrative sum, to NANA Development Corp., an Alaska Native firm with $1 billion in annual revenue.

At Lindbergh Aircraft Tug Co. we identify with men like Nelson and Adhern who risk it all to follow their dream, convinced they've got a good product to sell. That';s how we feel about our ergonomically designed Lindy's Aircraft Tugs. Come check us out.

In our last post we talked about some of the new fees airlines are charging to stopgap losses. While we understand that imposing fees for extra or unusual services can be a good way to recoup losses without raising ticket prices, we wonder if a consumer backlash isn't developing that will hurt the airline industry. Perhaps instead of "nickel and diming passengers to death" (a sentiment expressed by the guy sitting next to me on a recent flight), airlines should consider a few less visible solutions.

Swapping out-dated ground handling equipment that is expensive to operate and maintain in favor of energy efficient, ergonomic aircraft tugs can offer airlines and FBOs significant savings and practical advantages without negatively impacting customer relations.

• Lindy's battery-powered aircraft tugs are more energy efficient and run greener and cleaner that old-fashioned energy-gobbling gas-powered tugs.
• Unlike noisy gas-powered tugs built on lawn mower engines, Lindy's battery- operated electric ;aircraft tractors run quietly, decreasing noise pollution.
• Streamlined Lindy's aircraft tows can be stored in any empty corner. They don't require the massive storage commitment of their behemoth-sized gas-powered counterparts.
• The ergonomic design of Lindy';s aircraft tows protects the health and safety of your workers, eliminating the risk of potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries from moving heavy aircraft.
• Ergonomics is proven to decrease workplace injury and its associated costs, significantly decreasing medical costs, insurance premiums, workers' compensation expenses, and expensive rehabilitation expenses.
• Ergonomic equipment like Lindy's ergonomic aircraft tractors decrease employee break times, absenteeism and eliminate lost work days due to muscle strain and injury. The bottom line is workers are happier and more productive.

Savvy airlines and FBOs are replacing old-fashioned, gas-powered aircraft tugs with Lindy's new, battery-powered, ergonomic aircraft tugs; shouldn't you be one of them? To find out more, visit the Lindbergh Aircraft Tug Co. website.