Line Service interaction

[BravoHotel]

Good morning. Excuse my mid morning ramblings but:

I was a line guy eons ago at BFI and NYL formally YUM. For a young guy I remember these jobs fondly, certainly better than the other employment I had stocking shelves and changing out the reader board at the grocery store.

I started in a new position a few months ago where I now regularly interact with line service personnel. From my point of view when you mention the fact you were once one of them the level of service increases dramatically. Also I have definitely noted through out the places I have been the levels of service at various places. Some people appear genuinely happy to be there, and some not so much.

And prices vary greatly from place to place. We dropped off PAX at one FBO, didn't take gas, and the staff just marshalled us in. That'll be $500 please, really? Other places, "Naa you didn't take fuel, that is why we are here, we have to charge you the county mandated fee of like $30. Have a nice day!

Just my observations thus far.

 

[Space Monkey]

FBOs are like a box of chocolates... You never know what you're gonna get.

 

[DE727UPS]

Where did you work at BFI. I was around there a lot back in the 90's. Had a friend that pumped gas a Flightcraft. Got his ratings. Went to Alaska to work his way up. I was able to help him get on at UPS a few years ago. I pumped gas in Wenatchee in my late teens. Great job for a kid who loves airplanes.

 

[BravoHotel]

Where did you work at BFI. I was around there a lot back in the 90's. Had a friend that pumped gas a Flightcraft. Got his ratings. Went to Alaska to work his way up. I was able to help him get on at UPS a few years ago. I pumped gas in Wenatchee in my late teens. Great job for a kid who loves airplanes.

Aeroflight. I started washing the planes before I was 18, then I started refueling planes. The funniest thing I can remember is learning how to drive a standard transmission in the 100LL truck .

 

[DE727UPS]

That's funny. Learning how to drive a clutch around a bunch of airplanes. I knew several Aeroflight pilots who went to Alaska and Southwest. Aeroflight had a 402 that had been in Wenatchee back when I was fueling planes. It had a wing fire and rumor was they replaced it with a 421 wing. I guess they are the same. I met the boss there a few times. He always wore sunglasses inside so you could see his eyes.

 

[BravoHotel]

That's funny. Learning how to drive a clutch around a bunch of airplanes. I knew several Aeroflight pilots who went to Alaska and Southwest. Aeroflight had a 402 that had been in Wenatchee back when I was fueling planes. It had a wing fire and rumor was they replaced it with a 421 wing. I guess they are the same. I met the boss there a few times. He always wore sunglasses inside so you could see his eyes.

I think his name was Michael, and his counterpart was Dave something. It was an interesting operation. I diverted my track by several years by enlisting in the Marines. When I was stationed in Yuma, AZ I worked in the fire dept. We had a 24 / 48 on off schedule. That is when I worked across the field at Bet Ko Air for a lady named Martha Stewart. I took the job for a few reasons. There were a lot of people in my unit who got into trouble, and our off time was filled with BS. The leadership said if you wanted to get a part time job, or go to school to fill your off time you were free to do so. Otherwise you were going to be cleaning the barracks and doing uniform inspections. That was an easy choice for me.

 

[Space Monkey]

I think his name was Michael, and his counterpart was Dave something. It was an interesting operation. ...

If it's an Aviation company... there's a greater than 0.9 probability that it WILL be INTERESTING. Likely above 0.75 probability that it will also be flatulent.

 

[DE727UPS]

Yeah, the guys you mention or were the ones there when I was around. I remember Michael had some old jet warbird that seemed to never move.

 

[BravoHotel]

Yeah, the guys you mention or were the ones there when I was around. I remember Michael had some old jet warbird that seemed to never move.

It was a Fuga. I went for a ride in the thing.

 

[knot4u]

Good morning. Excuse my mid morning ramblings but:

I was a line guy eons ago at BFI and NYL formally YUM. For a young guy I remember these jobs fondly, certainly better than the other employment I had stocking shelves and changing out the reader board at the grocery store.

I started in a new position a few months ago where I now regularly interact with line service personnel. From my point of view when you mention the fact you were once one of them the level of service increases dramatically. Also I have definitely noted through out the places I have been the levels of service at various places. Some people appear genuinely happy to be there, and some not so much.

And prices vary greatly from place to place. We dropped off PAX at one FBO, didn't take gas, and the staff just marshalled us in. That'll be $500 please, really? Other places, "Naa you didn't take fuel, that is why we are here, we have to charge you the county mandated fee of like $30. Have a nice day!

Just my observations thus far.

I worked line service at KBUR and KVNY before, during and after I was going to A/P school, going to school full-time and working full-time didn't leave a lot of down time to unwind. I look back on that time fondly now, but I suppose that's those darned 30 yr old rose colored glasses taking off all of the rough edges again. Truth is it was a grind, even here in socal the weather could be miserable. I still will go out of my way to help line service today, that might be for selfish reasons though. If you treat them well they're much more likely to help when you really need it. One thing I've noticed in the last decade or so is "career" line service people, when I was doing it it was just a stepping stone towards something better and everyone I worked with knew it. We were with very few exceptions a group of early twenty-somethings with higher aspirations, these days it seems as if line service is treated as a destination job for a larger number of these folks. I don't get it.

 

[///AMG]

I took the job for a few reasons. There were a lot of people in my unit who got into trouble, and our off time was filled with BS. The leadership said if you wanted to get a part time job, or go to school to fill your off time you were free to do so. Otherwise you were going to be cleaning the barracks and doing uniform inspections. That was an easy choice for me.

Sounds like an unusually reasonable command decision to deal with such a problem. You know, actually incentivizing adults to do something more productive and adult with their time off, rather than just arbitrarily locking everyone down/random EMT/etc due to the acts of some like you would school-children.....Nice

 

[BravoHotel]

I worked line service at KBUR and KVNY before, during and after I was going to A/P school, going to school full-time and working full-time didn't leave a lot of down time to unwind. I look back on that time fondly now, but I suppose that's those darned 30 yr old rose colored glasses taking off all of the rough edges again. Truth is it was a grind, even here in socal the weather could be miserable. I still will go out of my way to help line service today, that might be for selfish reasons though. If you treat them well they're much more likely to help when you really need it. One thing I've noticed in the last decade or so is "career" line service people, when I was doing it it was just a stepping stone towards something better and everyone I worked with knew it. We were with very few exceptions a group of early twenty-somethings with higher aspirations, these days it seems as if line service is treated as a destination job for a larger number of these folks. I don't get it.

Necropost. But, career line service people, an observation. I flew a King Air 350 to aforementioned BFI. We visited the building of the former FBO I used to work for eons ago. There was a line guy from my high school class working there. It felt a little strange, almost full circle, but the guy doing the young person stepping stone job was the same age as me, and he appeared to absolutely love working there.

 

[DE727UPS]

I had a similar experience last week. Some people just love airplanes and aviation. If you can make the same as a Starbucks barista, then why not. The guy I met was from my home town and actually pumped gas at the same FBO at one time. Went on to work at QX in customer service for years. Now was a pumping gas as a semi-retirement job. I think he had his PPL but flying is expensive. Super nice guy and was very friendly and knowledgeable. I'm sure the high school kid pumping gas or trading flying for sweeping floors is still around but more likely as small fields in rural areas.

 

[knot4u]

When I worked for the one whose name shall not spoken there was a line guy who'd worked there basically his entire adult life. I'm not sure if he ever bought a home, but I suspect he did when it was still affordable. He was a single man and lived a pretty frugal life, with an occasional splurge. One day he showed up in a new Mini John Cooper Works S. He put most of his expendable income into his retirement fund. I think he retired debt free at 61 yrs old, but he still had a gig there as a part time consultant to teach some of the new guys how to tow aircraft. He had the benefit of an employer that offered a retirement that actually worked and he seemed to enjoy the job. I don't know if his circumstance is possible in 2022, but in my experience, with very few exceptions, working line service was either a stepping stone into something else in aviation or a job a college student would take while they were in school or sometimes both.

 

[///AMG]

I wonder what my line service supervisor is doing 20 years later.......he was probably my age since we were both undergrads at the time, and was a friendly cockbag. I imagine him being the manager of an Office Depot or something. I also wonder what my boy Noah is doing, who was always trying to convince me to crush beers and race the tugs down the runway with him (uncontrolled field). I still have a pic (like a real film picture) of us having some beers in the cockpit of the boss's Citation in the hangar. I hope he became president, but I suspect he has like 5 children and 3 baby mamas. The office girl ended up being Ms Oregon one year, and has since become a TV news person in FL. She was also awesome to hang with. The other two could have easily been contenders for the pageant title as well. Hadn't really thought about it for a long time, but we had a really good time there. I have a pretty good time most places I'm at, but being idiot college students making min wage makes it more fun.

 

[knot4u]

I wonder what my line service supervisor is doing 20 years later.......he was probably my age since we were both undergrads at the time, and was a friendly cockbag. I imagine him being the manager of an Office Depot or something. I also wonder what my boy Noah is doing, who was always trying to convince me to crush beers and race the tugs down the runway with him (uncontrolled field). I still have a pic (like a real film picture) of us having some beers in the cockpit of the boss's Citation in the hangar. I hope he became president, but I suspect he has like 5 children and 3 baby mamas. The office girl ended up being Ms Oregon one year, and has since become a TV news person in FL. She was also awesome to hang with. The other two could have easily been contenders for the pageant title as well. Hadn't really thought about it for a long time, but we had a really good time there. I have a pretty good time most places I'm at, but being idiot college students making min wage makes it more fun.

I agree 100%. I never worked line service with the guy I mentioned in my previous post, I'd already been working as an A/P for a long time when we met, he also resolutely refused to take a management position overseeing line service regardless of how often it was offered and how sweet they tried to make the deal. He was always the de facto supervisor/lead if he was on the clock though. God speed Robbie.