AERO Specialties

A commercial aircraft being grounded unexpectedly, even for a few minutes, can cost airlines thousands of dollars, mess up schedules, upset passengers, and spin off into a series of additional problems and expenses. Some delays and groundings are unavoidable, of course, but the last thing any airside ground crew wants is to be the cause of a plane being grounded due to ground support equipment (GSE) failure. Even more serious is the prospect of GSE failure on the ramp leading to not just delays or groundings but damage to aircraft tugs and other GSE or aircraft, or, worse yet, injuries to ground or flight crew, or even passengers. That’s why taking any extra steps to fully ensure that GSE is running reliably and efficiently is always worth it Meet the Maintenance Schedule It’s probably no surprise that the most effective way to guarantee that GSE remains in good working order is to be vigilant about the maintenance schedule. Anyone who has worked as a mechanic or...

Imagine working in an environment where hundreds or thousands of vehicles, ranging from cart-to truck-sized to nearly a million pounds, operate every day. As even a brief period of inactivity or lateness can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of those vehicles are being operated with as much haste as (hopefully) is deemed safe. The environment is further bombarded with the roar of huge engines and hazy with their exhaust. Given all this it’s likely chaotic and necessarily high stress.   Of course, that’s exactly the environment in which thousands of airside ground staff and aviation personnel work in every day. And since every indication suggests that rates of air travel are going to continue increasing, it’s likely only going to get busier, more congested, and more chaotic. Airports and ground support equipment (GSE) producers, however, are hard at work making sure that for the average baggage handler or aircraft pushback operator, in the airside of ...