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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/122648
fueling/lineops/safety The Perpetual "First Impression" First impressions count! The benefits of keeping customer service top of mind at the flightline a By Walter Chartrand fter a safe landing following a pleasant flight on a beautiful morning, an aircraft taxis into an FBO. But there is no one there. There is no one to marshal in the arriving aircraft, and with few other aircraft parked on the ramp, the flight crew is left to decide where to park on their own. Suddenly a facility door flies open, and an individual struggling to don a safety vest hurriedly grabs a set of chocks and drags a red floor mat out to meet the "self parking" aircraft. As the cabin door opens and the "out-ofbreath" line service technician fights to properly the place the floor mat, the crew and passengers begin to emerge. Suddenly another line service technician pulls up on a tug pulling an LAV cart and yells: "Hey, they need anything?" Unfortunately, this is an all too common scenario. Even if this were a long-standing, well-established customer, every time line ops meet the customer, it is a "first impression" for that exchange. But let's back up a little and see how we could improve this situation. Communicate & Plan Donning the right safety gear provides an at-a-glance view of an FBO's level of professionalism. 20 airportbusiness April 2013 In the above example, the scheduler and dispatcher for the flight department had called in two weeks prior informing the FBO of the requirements for the passengers, aircraft and flight crew. That information should have been documented and shared in a "shift briefing." FBO personnel should have followed the incoming aircraft's flight; that aircraft was most certainly on some type of electronic tracking system, possibly for hours! The aircraft likely called in and reported "20 minutes" out and probably had a scanner tuned to ground control where the pilot would have been heard to say: "This is aircraft N123, we would like to taxi to XYZ FBO." So why was it a surprise then when the customer showed up? As the above example illustrates, it is critically important to plan flightline work as best as possible and communicate that plan to everyone concerned. "Is it possible to over communicate? Consider this: "Would you rather be told about customer requirements