The Ground Handling Blog

Making the decision to purchase your own aircraft, whether for personal use or commercial use, is a huge decision and should never be taken lightly. There are many variables in the decision making process to purchase, but there is also the option to lease aircraft. Much like leasing an automobile, aircraft leasing is not for every operator but it does make more sense than purchasing for some operators.

We’re going to take a look at the top ten leasing companies globally, but first we need to take a look at what types of financing is out there and how it differs from traditional aircraft purchasing to own.

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Aviation will never be able to spare the work of real people. That’s certainly a good thing, there are certain skills that no machine on earth will ever be able to reproduce. But where people work, human factors sometimes get in the way of safety. We present you the “Dirty Dozen” of human factors and how to properly deal with them.

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Airside flight operations are a challenging environment for ground support equipment at any airport, with all sorts of harsh conditions present. Blazing heat, freezing cold, driving rain, ice, snow, those are all the standard conditions. Military operations are not necessarily privy to worse conditions, but they are certainly subject to more dire conditions. When a military mission is ordered, it must be completed.

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Military operations present the harshest environments in the world for ground support equipment, and if landside military operations are incredibly harsh, seaside and naval flight operations are the absolute harshest conditions imaginable. Salt water, constant humidity, storms, gale force winds, and remote with very little in the way of engineering support. Navy ground support equipment must be robust, durable, and practically no-maintenance. Oh, and compact.

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When we think of aircraft tugs, it is generally for big jets, and if not for big jets then at least big private jets. But what about helicopters? Those strange, ungainly things are light like a dragonfly, right? Some are, but then again, some aren’t. While compact training and light observation helicopters are designed to be light, there are plenty of medium and heavy helicopters which tip the scales many times that of their lightweight cousins.

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Helicopters are a wonderfully versatile aerial platform, capable of supporting a broad array missions from aerial ambulance, to aerial agricultural application of pesticides, to heavy lift and tower construction. While nimble and deft in the air, helicopters pose unique challenges to ground support personnel charged with ground handling of the aircraft.

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Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul facilities, known in the vernacular simply as “MROs” are a major gear in the cog which keep airplanes in the air safely and reliably. But what exactly goes into an MRO? Or more broadly, what are the different types of MROs and MRO business models, and how do they differ? This comprehensive guide to MRO business models sets out to research and explain the nuance of MROs.

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Executive jet aircraft owned by large corporations for executive travel are declining. Jets are extremely expensive alone, and their required aircrews and ground support teams add enormous financial strain. The only way in which they are an economical endeavor is if they are employed on a frequent basis so as to justify the cost of storage and associated payroll.

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With so much focus on the advances in technology in the industry, sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the big picture. What is the mission of the airside operations organization? To conduct ground handling and services. But above all of that, it is to make sure that all employees, passengers, and bystanders get home safely. The same goes for aircraft hangar operations; it behooves the organization to take aggressive steps to ensure that the work environment is a safe one. So use an aircraft hangar safety checklist to secure this goal.

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