AERO Specialties

If there’s an occupation that requires those practicing it to avoid distraction, it’s members of airside ground crews. For one, the functioning of an airport relies on the ground crew performing quickly but efficiently, accurately, and effectively. Failing to do so can cost the airlines thousands, even millions of dollars. That alone both requires and justifies the need to avoid distractions. However, there’s a reason even more compelling than the millions of dollars at stake for those airside ground crews to pay attention: safety. Not that the ground crews would want it any other way, but along with being one of the most stressful and demanding jobs, it can also be one of the most dangerous. It combines the same heavy lifting and trip and fall hazards of other occupations with the collision risks accompanying those in and around fleets of aircraft tugs , baggage carts, and the rest of the ground support equipment (GSE). Add in constant loud noise and massive aircraf...

Aviation ground crew work comes with some risks. It requires working from heights to clean, deice, repair, fuel, or otherwise maintain aircraft, typically at a fast pace. It also involves working in and around a whole fleet of motorized ground support equipment and heavy lifting, not to mention working with often dangerous, caustic, and highly flammable chemicals. And all of that is happening while there are massive aircraft taxiing around or being towed by aircraft tugs —it’s a pretty busy work environment. Despite all of that, most members of an air side crew wouldn’t have it any other way. There is, however, an additional risk: Extreme weather. It’s getter hotter in the summer, harsher in the winter, and the storms during the seasons can be more severe. These factors all create a dynamic that is not only miserable for an air side crew, it can be dangerous. Fortunately, the following safety tips can help to reduce that risk. Planning and Updating The first step...

Being a member of an airside support crew can be harrowing at the best of times. Millions of dollars, the comfort and convenience of thousands of passengers, and, in many cases, the safety and lives of those passengers are in the hands of the ground crews. On top of which, aircraft tugs and pushbacks, baggage and lav carts, and a fleet of other ground support equipment (GSE), are zipping around on the apron. Not to mention that massive aircraft being tugged, pushed-back, or taxiing have to be dodged. And that’s the work environment when the weather is nice, warm, and clear. When winter and the snow hit, every one of those challenges remains, on top of which the crews have to deal with accumulating snow, iced-up wings, ice on the ground, blinding wind, icy fog, storms inhibiting visibility, and often, bitter cold. Particularly frustrating is that the conditions being that much more difficult results in an increased chance of delays, which can place even more pressure...

An argument could be made that an airside work environment, perhaps particularly the ramp, is like an incubator for accident risk. Airports are high-activity, high-stress workplaces, in which huge monetary losses that accrue during ground-time means working as quickly as possible is a must. On top of which, ground crews are driving dozens of specialized motorized vehicles, often hauling volatile chemicals to service massive aircraft, sometimes doing so in inclement weather. The briefest lapse in concentration, miscommunication, equipment failure, or operator-oversight in an aircraft tow tractor or baggage tug can (and does) result in costly and dangerous accidents. One of those accidents can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles and aircraft, sometimes even more costly ground-time for the airline, a lot of angry passengers, and worst of all, critical injury or worse for the crew members involved. Costly and dangerous as these accidents are, howe...

There is every indication that the popularity of air travel will continue to increase in the years to come. A practical demonstration of that fact is already evidenced by the increased congestion at the world’s major airports. An increase in the traffic through airports will also be attended by a busier, more demanding, more stressful, and even more dangerous airside. Thankfully, the increases in traffic and the challenges that brings to the airside are being complemented by an increase in the technological innovation that’s shaping how those challenges will be addressed. Changes already being made at airports globally are an indication of what the airside of the future may look like. The good news is that it appears to be one in which ground crews, their equipment, and the aircraft are safer, more efficiently managed, and more effectively overseen. GSE Goes Electric For the great majority of the time airports have been in business, the average aircraft pushback ...

If the implementation, organization, logistics, finances, and general future of ground support equipment (GSE) pooling isn’t the most controversial topic in the airside/aviation support industry, it’s without a doubt in the top three. At airports all over the planet the question of pooling is being debated by enthusiastic supporters and equally fervent detractors, and in a number of them, it’s already being implemented. With pooling in practice on a large scale still in its infancy, however, universal adoption is far from a certainty. As is the case with any major shift in an industry’s operational parameters, there don’t seem to be a whole lot of easy answers and even the most vocal proponents of GSE pooling acknowledge that implementation will almost certainly be a bit turbulent. Whether or not it proves worth it remains to be seen. Potential Drawbacks of Pooling For the unfamiliar, at the moment, different ground crews have contracts with specific airlines and ...

Every year, the airlines lose billions of dollars to accidents and other damage incidents. Beyond the financial risk and loss, accidents and damage incidents are responsible for a number of collateral and peripheral consequences. Those consequences range from passenger inconvenience and loss of business to, far worse, injury or death. Unfortunately, as airsides at airports and aerodromes are generally busy, borderline chaotic places, with ground support equipment (GSE) like aircraft pushback tractors and baggage carts bustling past massive airliners, accidents and damage incidents can have a lot of sources. That also leaves airport management, contractors, and third parties vulnerable to liability costs. The good news is: most of those can be mitigated or avoided altogether.   Ramp Damage: Towing and Collision Incidents According to the research, the total cost of ramp damage alone to the airlines is around $10 billion every year. The average cost of each a...