Ground Support Blog

It amazes me as I travel the country and the world to see how many ramp workers ignore basic safety protections. Take ear protection as an example. I don’t know any airport workers over 50 who don’t have some hearing loss. Many have significant hearing loss in one or both ears — me included. All those years of engines and APUs running within feet of your head take a toll on your hearing if you don’t wear ear protection religiously.

And I didn’t get religion until the damage was already done. Then I started carrying the ear protectors with me everywhere I went when I was on the job. Because I found that if I didn’t have them on me, the ramp could go from quiet to noisy all of a sudden and I was left with unprotected ears. In that short amount of time, over days, weeks, months and years, the damage gets done. And it’s not reversible.

So now it really pains me to see so many of our young workers without ear protection on the ramp. Many of them, probably like me, either forgot to bring their ear protection with them or think the exposure is only momentary; there’s no sudden pain or blood spouting to warn of injury. By the time you realize that you have hearing loss, it’s usually too late. Damage does occur from incremental exposure.

So we need to be role models for young workers by wearing ear protection ourselves, always. And we also need to remind them when they’re on the ramp without it. As their supervisors we need to make compliance with safety procedures mandatory. Aside from the health of our workforce, these safety measures reduce workers’ comp claims and improve our bottom lines. Not a bad combination.

The jury’s no longer out on whether GSE needs to go electric.  Studies done by a wide-range of groups — from the Department of Energy to private companies — all show that electric is cheaper in the long-run, especially when the cost of fuel goes up, and electric vehicles are cheaper to maintain.  (And for cold weather operations, electric has a clear advantage.)  The environmental benefits are also beyond dispute at this point — the carbon footprint of electric GSE is significantly smaller than for gas- or diesel-powered vehicles. The big issues are infrastructure and paying for new equipment or converting old equipment.

So two things need to happen — the airports need to update their infrastructure to support electric GSE and GSE operators need to find the money to invest in new equipment or conversion of old equipment. GSE operators are not alone in wanting to go electric on the ramp. Airlines and airport operators will be under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprints.  One way to do that will be to reduce their emissions on the ground. So they are going to be pushing ground handlers to convert their vehicles so that they can get the credit for the resulting reduction in emissions.

Ground handling companies may end up getting squeezed to make investments in new or converted vehicles, even when it is not economically an opportune time. But before that happens, companies need to look into what opportunities there are for government grants. And while I haven’t seen any public utilities giving grants for GSE, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be pursuaded to do so. For example, the recently passed stimulus bill has $6.9 billion for state block grants for energy efficiency improvements and reduction of carbon emissions. Each state can spend this money broadly on projects covered by the legislation. GSE operators need to meet with their airport operators to see whether some of that money could be used for infrastructure improvements at their airports and purchases of electric GSE or GSE conversions. The Department of Energy and EPA have or have had grants for energy efficiency improvements which should be explored. The FAA’s  Airport Improvement Program grants may now or in the future be available for carbon reduction projects. While the focus may have been on delivery fleets and shuttle buses in the past, this doesn’t mean that airport operators can’t make the case for electric GSE at their airports.

I know that a number of airports hire dedicated personnel to pursue grant opportunities. GSE  operators need to make sure that their needs are covered in the pursuit of such grants.

Preventive maintenance is never easy to budget for — in time or money. We’re always too busy fixing broken equipment that we never get around to doing the preventive maintenance which, of course, eventually results in even more broken equipment. Stopping this cycle is difficult in the best of times but clearly a much greater challenge today. These may not be the worst of times, but I can’t think of any worse times for aviation in my lifetime.

But we need to break this cycle, if for no other reason than it really costs more in the end.  Tightening the fan belt today could keep it from breaking and having to be replaced tomorrow. We all know this but that doesn’t make it any easier when we’re just trying to make it from day-to-day. I know, you’re thinking who’s going to tell the ramp sup his critical piece of equipment isn’t available because of some PM check? But you miss this PM check and then you miss the next one and pretty soon, you have a broken piece of equipment to contend with. Not a good scenario.

Back when I was responsible for ground equipment, I got caught in that same cycle of putting off preventive maintenance for one reason or another and then ending up with broken and unusable equipment. We finally decided that we had to bite the bullet and stop this cycle, because it was costing us more time and money in the end.

So we decided that we would give the ramp sup a schedule of PM items and tell him he needed to do what it took to temporarily replace that equipment — rent, borrow or steal (OK, not steal) — because the checks needed to get done. And we were going to stick to our plan no matter what. It wasn’t easy, but after a few months we noticed a difference in the number of breakdowns.

We all know this but we’re pushed by the constant pressure to keep things moving. I know it’s tough to “just say no,” as a former first lady used to say, but sometimes we really do just have to pause and do the right thing for the long term.

Sometimes it takes a memorable shot played over and over on the evening news — in this case a baggage container (an LD3?) sticking out of a 747 engine — to get us thinking about basic ramp safety. To the average CNN or Fox viewer, it’s hard to imagine how this could happen. But to those of us in the business, the potential for aircraft damage on the ramp is constant. A moment’s inattention or distraction can spell serious damage. In worst case scenarios — that do happen — injury or death can result.

So it’s worth taking the time to review basic ramp safety. Good to talk among ourselves and to re-emphasize the basics with our employees and co-workers. I’ve learned the hard way — I’ve inadvertently damaged aircraft, injured myself and had more close calls than I want to remember. Over my years at the NTSB, we investigated several

1. If you’re not trained on equipment, don’t operate it until you are. Some guy giving you a quick OJT is usually not enough to operate safely.

2. Look at the big picture. It’s not enough to focus on what you’re doing; you have to look out for everyone and everything around you.

3. Tag broken equipment. Telling someone is just not enough to prevent its use.

4. Don’t rush. Yes, the pressure to avoid delays is constant but the cost of errors is worse. 

But I’m sure you all have your own ramp safety pointers. Please feel free to share them so we can learn from each other.

Randy Babbitt, long-time ALPA President, Eastern Airlines captain and aviation enthusiast, brings decades of aviation experience to the post of FAA Administrator. Although not yet confirmed by the Senate, I am confident that his nomination will fly through. He has a proven track record with unions which will serve him well with the often contentious union-management issues that have plagued the FAA for the last eight years. He has the aviation credentials to garner respect from the aviation industry and its highly skilled workforce. And his negotiating skills will come in handy when dealing with Capitol Hill or defending the FAA’s budget to OMB and the White House.

But the FAA issues are a lot for one man — even one as qualified as Mr. Babbitt — to tackle. And it’s not all about NextGen — the highly-touted air traffic modernization program. Now, ATC modernization is clearly needed for survival of the nation’s airlines but there are other equally important issues that have festered unresolved for way too long. Just as efficient management of the airspace is critical to aviation’s economic survival, so to is maintaining our ground infrastructure — i.e. the airports — especially GA airports, and FBO facilities, both of which we are losing at an alarming rate.

My wish list for the new Administrator would include a re-energized and re-focused effort to save GA airports. In my home state of Massachusetts alone, as many as five GA airports may disappear in the next year and we don’t have that many to start with.  I am also concerned about the continuing reduction in the number of viable FBOs. FBOs have been the backbone of GA and I would like to see a concerted federal effort led by the FAA to revitalize this segment of aviation.

As small FBOs go out of business or are consumed by ever bigger conglomerates, we lose a lot of the spirit of aviation. Certainly the spirit I found at the grass strip where I learned to fly. The FBO there not only mentored me, encouraged me, but also forgave the costs of more than one flight when money was tight. 

Whatever your particular wish list, I hope you let the FAA and Mr. Babbitt know. And from my knowledge of him, I think he will be listening and acting on our suggestions.

Economic realities being what they are today, FBOs are hiring more and more non-native speakers of English — Some legal, some not so legal. But this isn’t going to be a diatribe against immigrants — far from it.  I’m a big believer in the American dream, and the immigrant’s place in that dream.

But I’m also a big safety advocate and I’ve been concerned for a while that FBOs are not providing non-native speakers with the tools they need to perform their jobs. Those tools include either adequate training in reading and writing English — too expensive for most FBOs — or translations of enough technical data to ensure workers have the safety info they need.

Who’s making sure that these workers read enough English to ensure the safety of the work they perform? Too few workplaces translate key technical and safety information for their workers. And even those who may have some Spanish translations, what about all those non-Spanish speaking foreign workers? How are they getting their information?

Some data is available for free from manufacturers and oil companies. Sometimes you may need to pay. I’ve been using Continental Translation Service in Manhattan that specializes in technical translations — a family-run company in business more than 50 years. And they’ve been doing aviation translations at least that long. I recently cadged a 1949 aviation maintenance book from their library (interesting read, more to follow). But no matter what company you use, you need to make sure the company has the technical expertise to provide the quality work you need.

Everyone has an interest in making sure that their workforce reads and writes enough English to perform their jobs safely.  Sure, it’s a management issue, but everyone has a role to play. If you have a co-worker who can’t read enough English to know what to do, you have an obligation to speak up. The individual either needs better training — or more multilingual aids.

The stimulus bill seems to have something for everybody. But what’s in it for corporate aviation? All I’m hearing these days is attacks on corporate jets and ridicule for anyone who doesn’t cancel a corporate aircraft order. And the response from most aviation trade organizations? Silence. What some people might call a deafening silence.

Under almost daily attack — from Congress, the media, your average Joe or Jane — and I’m not hearing too many people standing up for corporate aviation! What gives? Does everyone have a case of laryngitis? Or has everyone decided that taking it on the chin and hoping the issue dies down is the best strategy?

You all know that canceling aircraft orders doesn’t just hurt those coddled execs who will have to fly on scheduled flights like First Class sardines — hey, everything’s relative — but thousands and thousands of jobs directly and indirectly tied to the manufacture, maintenance and operation of aircraft. And, of course, the ripple effect of unemployment is felt in every industry downstream from those job losses.

Who’s writing their congressmen? The president? The local and national media? Where’s the ground swell of support for corporate aviation? We can’t wait until the industry is completely decimated; then it will take even longer to get those jobs back. Working men and women in all kinds of unglamorous jobs — like fuelers and ground handlers, customer support people, the everyday cogs that make the aviation wheels turn — need to get their voices heard.

We’re one small world now, thanks in no small part to aviation. So if you’re reading this outside the U.S., don’t think this doesn’t affect you. We know all too well how a ripple in the U.S. can become a tsunami somewhere else. The corporate aviation bashing in the U.S. will be felt globally.

It’s not someone else’s problem. It’s our problem.

Appearances can be deceiving but from what I can see on my travels across the country, ground equipment in some stations is in a sorry state. It’s not just the rust on tugs and carts, or belt loaders with belts so frayed I could see the threads from the terminal. I’ve actually seen ramp personnel pulling baggage carts by hand while motorized tugs are pushed into corners, obviously out of order. What’s going on? Doesn’t anyone care that a frayed belt can cause injury to the baggage handler? Years ago I saw a guy lose a finger to a poorly maintained belt loader. And it can’t be good for their backs to be tugging loaded baggage carts.

I know the airlines are having a tough time financially. But can’t some of the baggage fees that passengers are now paying for the luxury of checking bags be used to pay for some basic equipment for ground personnel — like functioning tugs and belt loaders? In the end everyone pays for poorly maintained equipment, either through lost productivity or increased workers’ compensation claims — not to mention potential physical injury to hardworking men and women.

It’s the day after the Election and I’m feeling good. Yes, Obama was my candidate. But I’m feeling good about hope for the working stiffs and for aviation. Now, the jury’s out on whether Obama’s policies will or won’t help aviation generally. But my feeling is – why sit and moan about what could happen. Let’s all of us be part of making sure that aviation thrives. Take the environment – no, I haven’t turned into a tree hugger – but the green revolution is coming and why shouldn’t we be part of it? Aren’t airport ground personnel on the frontlines of airport operations? Don’t you have a first class view of what’s going on? Where’s the waste and how to we cut it?

So maybe you think global warming is some high fallutin’, ivory tower issue. And maybe it is. But the issue for us is how to we become part of the economic engine that going green will become? Or do we sit around and do nothing and let someone steamroll over us? It’s our chance to seize the opportunity or export it along with foreign repair stations, manufacturing, and all the other jobs that have fled this country and found thriving havens in other lands.

(Editor’s Note: Ground Support Worldwide magazine will be attending the AAAE & IATA Cooperation Series: Environmental Symposium - Green Synergies Across the Aviation Value Chain in Washington, D.C., November 12-14 and will report on it in the coming weeks.)

So we know our editor, Karen, is determined when she gets me – an A&P mechanic for more than 40 years – to sit down and start a blog for mechanics, ground handlers, fuelers and all the other ramp rats that are the unsung heroes of aviation. Unsung is for sure. How many people know who Charles Taylor was? I rest my case on that.

I wasn’t too keen on this at first – mechanics and writing don’t go well together – just look at some of our maintenance entries and it’s clear why we became mechanics and not journalists. But I digress. As I thought about it, and as Karen would call once in a while to ask whether I’d do it, the idea started to grow on me. Why not start a dialogue with ground personnel men and women? I’d tell you what I thought – and those of you who know me know I speak truth to power and have never walked away when the going got tough – and you’d talk back to me and to each other.

So let me start by telling you about me and what’s on my mind. I grew up under the flight path to Logan Airport. In those days, even a major city airport like Boston’s had no fences. As a kid, me and my friends would go over and watch planes take off and land. A tad mischievous some might have called us – outright rascals others – we found our way through cargo warehouses and hangars and the occasional unattended tractor became our playgrounds. We learned about aircraft parts making repairs to our bicycles; those parts lasted longer – they didn’t come loose - and were a lot cheaper found on the hangar floor.

Suffice it to say, I’ve lived and breathed airports – and airport fumes – since I was a kid. Loved it then and love it still. From those early years playing at Logan, I learned to fly from a dirt strip, got my A&P, worked at a number of air carriers, owned my own FBO, became a union shop steward, worked accident investigations, and ultimately landed at the NTSB as the first Board member with an A&P. Enough about me. Let’s talk about an issue that’s on my mind and maybe on yours as well.

While the press and aviation industry focus on the lack of future pilots, where’s the clamor for the future of maintenance and ground handling? As usual, our unsung heroes remain unsung. But that’s because the public doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes; that an untrained ground handler can cause millions of dollars in damage by dinging an aircraft with a baggage cart or worse, improperly fueling an aircraft could cause disaster. Some airports are seeing annual turn over of 50% in their ground personnel. Staggering. Is anyone upset? If those were pilots bailing out at that rate, there would be a huge public outcry.

So why is there such tremendous turnover? Could it be that pay and benefits are inadequate? Grossly inadequate? I think this is an emergency for our industry and I want to light a fire under a few seats that could start making changes. But I need to know what you think. Are pay and benefits a problem? Are you thinking of changing careers because of it? Do you know excellent candidates that refused a job because the pay/benefits were too low?