AircraftOwner Online

Pundits are calling it the "Silver Tsunami." It's the graying of the American work force. Today, 19% of American workers are age 55 or older. By 2016, that number will climb to 25%, according to a recent survey by the independent Pew Research Group. America's most numerous generation, Baby Boomers are pushing retirement back and working longer. The reasons are numerous:

 

• Better healthcare has extended the average U.S. lifespan to 78, and many Americans are living into their 80s (the country's fastest growing demographic) and even 90s.
• Many retirees bored with retirement are returning to work part-time and even full-time or are seeking second careers.
• Loss of retirement investment value and savings during the recent recession has forced many older Americans to push retirement back by a number of years. They simply can't afford to quit working.

With fewer young workers moving up from the next generation to replace aging workers, businesses can't afford to lose the experience and knowledge older workers bring to the table. Adopting ergonomic practices and utilizing ergonomic equipment will be key to accommodating America's aging work force and essential to avoiding age-discrimination suits.

As bodies age they lose strength and flexibility. Ergonomically-designed equipment like Lindy's AircraftCaddys is designed to remove physical effort from common tasks such as transporting aircraft at airports, FBO, corporate and private air fields and ground operations. Like all carefully designed ergonomic equipment, Lindy's aircraft tugs and plane tows reduce the risk of injury that can occur while performing pushing, pulling, lifting and transporting tasks.

Lindy's aircraft tows and aircraft tractors allow a single individual to easily move aircraft up to 35,000 pounds. Ergonomic design eliminates back aches and muscle strains that can injure and disable airline and FBO workers of any age and particularly older workers. Lindy's ergonomically designed airplane tugs allows older workers to perform ground control tasks with the same ease as younger, stronger, more agile workers.

Ergonomic design is one of the features that sets Lindy's aircraft tugs above the competition. Ergonomics is the science of fitting the equipment to the person, not forcing the person to contort his body into uncomfortable positions to operate the equipment. Most equipment is built as one size fits all. But we all know that people come in all shapes and sizes: tall and short, fat and thin, muscle-bound and average Joe or Jill. Ergonomic design is the great equalizer. Ergonomics makes it possible for a 24-year-old, weightlifting stud and a feisty, 55-year-old grandmother to operate the same motor-powered aircraft tow with equal ease. Ergonomics takes physical size and ability out of the work equation.

Ergonomics was developed to minimize the overexertion and cumulative trauma that often occur during manual lifting, pushing, pulling and, stretching tasks, such as stacking heavy airplanes in a hangar or moving them onto the flight line. Particularly when such tasks must be performed repeatedly, damage to soft muscle tissues especially of the back and shoulders can occur. When the burden of maneuvering heavy airplanes is shifted from the operator to the material handling equipment, as it is in the ergonomic design of Lindy's aircraft tractor, inappropriate exertion is eliminated and the risk of musculoskeletal injury is significantly reduced.

With pilots getting older, that's something to consider. The average age of active pilots was 52 in 2000, and more than 63,000 pilots over the age of 60 hold current medical certificates, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website. Some pilots are still going strong into their 90s! While age doesn't affect their ability to pilot a plane, it probably affects their ability to move one without injuring themselves. The ergonomic design of Lindy's aircraft tugs decreases the chance of that happening.

Lindy's ergonomically-designed, walk-behind ;aircraft tugs are a safe alternative to gas-powered lawn-mower drive aircraft movers. As noted in our August 14 post, on a recent trip to Alaska, tugs were much in evidence at Anchorage's Ted Stevens International Airport. The world's third busiest shipping hub (after Atlanta and Hong Kong), Anchorage buzzed with tugs in constant motion towing small and mid-sized planes around the tarmac, to and from hangers, and into position on runways. Tugs competed with other planes, ground crews and equipment, and waiting passengers for space. The volume of people and equipment sharing the same small space seemed a recipe for disaster. It was the perfect application for Lindy's aircraft tugs; here's why:

• Lindy's aircraft tugs are compactly designed for quick and easy maneuverability in tight spaces. Stacking is faster and easier with Lindy's tugs than with conventional, bulky rider tugs.
• Lindy's battery-operated aircraft tugs are designed for quiet operation, diminishing hanger/tarmac noise, ensuring that operators have full use of all senses, including hearing, for maximum safety.
• Lindy's aircraft tugs are ergonomically designed to be operated by a single individual without stress or strain, protecting the health and safety of employees and allowing maximum use of personnel. One-man design makes them a perfect solution for individual owners, corporations and small FBOs.
• Lindy's walk-behind tugs are less costly than rider tugs, making them affordable for use as hanger equipment or secondary tugs when rider tugs are in use. Affordability and one-person handling makes Lindy's tugs the perfect solution for individual owners, corporations, private airstrips and smaller FBOs.
• Lindy's aircraft tugs place the nose wheel of the aircraft over the center point of the tug's drive wheels, creating better traction in Alaska's difficult weather conditions.

For more information on Lindy's Aircraft Tugs, visit our website.