If you’re the kind of pilot who relishes the moment when you flee the FBO in the crew car for a round of golf or a night on the town, there is a phalanx of insurers and associations that are out to change your lifestyle. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), NBAA and the Flight Safety Foundation are leading the charge, staunchly backed by insurance companies such as U.S. Aviation Underwriters. The issue is ramp-accident losses for insurers and the resulting increase in premiums for FBOs–if they can get insurance at all.
The bulk of the responsibility lies with the FBO operator, of course, to ensure line technicians are properly trained and motivated. But NATA president James Coyne recently told AIN, “I think the pilot, especially, has got to get away from the good old days where he leaps out of the airplane and rushes off in a crew car and thinks, ‘I don’t have to do anything for the next 12 hours.’ He’s got to be much more conscious of his responsibilities for working together with the ground crew and the FBO, from the security point of view and also from the operational safety point of view. I’d like to see the pilots stick around while the airplane is being moved and help out. You’ve still got a multimillion-dollar asset there–it’s your asset. It would be much better, to me, if pilots realized they are partners with the FBO.”
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