Crappy FBO's

[imacdog]

Atlantic Jet Center, MLB. Worst I have dealt with. All seemed well on arrival with a friendly lady working the counter and a good rampy who was waiting with wands when we pulled in. Went down hill after some whore I assume to be one of the owners arrived. Asked for a crew car and got a dirty look, followed by "are you a customer?". Then it was what are you flying, are you fueling? Upon her getting "the jet, and yes" from me, I was given the keys to the most cherry Lexus? you'll ever see. Driver's side door wouldn't open or unlock, and the low fuel light was on. I have no problem with dropping a 10'er in the tank, but dam!

When it was time to leave, the lone rampy showed his true colors by not having the airplane fueled. It sat there on the ramp for 8 hrs and no gas. Not to mention the 425 degree setting the a/c was on.

Definately FIT Aviation next time.

Unless something has changed in the last few years, run don't walk away from FIT Aviation. While doing some of my training there I saw many crews get treated with neglect. If Atlantic has gotten that bad then MLB is going to be a tough place to fly into.

 

[StaticWick]

Good thread here.

I'd agree with the worst being:
Atlantic LAS
Signature BOS
--->snip<-------
the "FBO/trailer" at DFW
Atlantic MDW (GPU issues every time)

Does anyone know of an alternate airport besides going to KBOS??? Got to go out there in a couple of months. Never been there and prefer to keep it that way as I'd just assume to miss that whole KBOS experience.

Also don't forget about Mercury at KPDK and KJAN...With Mercury being right behind Signature....they both look like a bad porn flick gone worse. I got my breakfast fruit plate and rolls from them for our King Air flight home. About an hour into our flight the lead pax taps me on the shoulder and wants to know where the microwave is so he can heat up his pancakes and sausage. I admit that is partly my fault, but on that same trip: "top the mains" means the main tanks only not the aux tanks too! :angryfire

To add insult to injury...I heard Mercury was brought out by some large corporation on the east coast. All the fulltime employees lost all vacation days after that merger. So with all the crappy Mercury FBO's we got but now have a service with an attitude.

(FYI- Atlantic is no longer @ KLAS...they still call it that but it's under a different name now.)

A work around DFW...they don't like to be surprised. Just phone ahead and then radio they'll be waiting for you! ...also the "FBO/trailer" is gone now and they have a real building and they also seem to go out of their way now with more effort. Now, if we can get ATC to change their attitude towards GA's going into DFW~ that would be an accomplishment!!

Everyone let me know about KBOS...
SW

 

[Publishers]

Would it not be interesting to have an FBO thread where they rate some of the pilot groups and bitches?

 

[StaticWick]

Would it not be interesting to have an FBO thread where they rate some of the pilot groups and bitches?

The only difference between a pilot and a jet engine is after the Jet A is gone...the pilot still runs.

(Forget the food screw-up....I was dealing with an safety issue over being over gross weight on my trip out of KPDK they had no way to de-fuel a King Air. I did check twice with them when placing the order.)

Seriously, though I've work on the flight line for 5 years in civilian and 2 in the military. I seen it from both sides from managment to the line captain. People pay me to provide a high quality service for them the best I can. Why in the @#$% should we as pilots settle for less as customers of FBO's expecting the same caliber of service?

Just because it's not our money? Last time I looked money doesn't grow on trees...and the more I spend means less for me, down the road of flying. In defense of the FBO's, I've seen some pretty dim light bulbs out there flying around 60,000 lbs birds.

Cheers,

 

[Corona]

Would it not be interesting to have an FBO thread where they rate some of the pilot groups and bitches?

Is this where the anti-pilot sentiment has moved since NJA pilots got their contract, P?

When the FBOs become the customers & start paying us money, then we'll care.

I do second StaticWick's last sentence, however.

C

 

[Propnose]

My vote goes to Executive Air(if I remember the name correctly) in RIC. I used to go there when I hauled checks, and the place is stuck in the 70's! The whole place smells like smoke, it's dirty and the crew car was horrible. Thankfully the company I am with now doesn't go there - we use Richmond Jet - which is not too bad.

 

[T-DOGGIN]

Same owners of both FBO's on RIC

 

[Nolife]

All these responses and no one metioned Transit Fried Chicken in MSY. I worked there for a few yrs a while back and I have to admit I was the lazy line guy sometimes. I'd rather puff a smoke and watch you load your bags. Fred Sanford vintage fuel trucks that more than one jet driver made me give him a sample from to show there actually was more jet A than water in it. FBO was a pre-fab house with a sagging floor and a 30 year old paint job. Average individual IQ of the personel correlated to their shoe size (I have big feet). But we had cheap gas... really cheap.

So now I don't expect too much from line service and I'm not usually dissapointed.

 

[murfdawg998]

murfdawg,

I used to work at Landmark IAD back in the Piedmont Hawthorne days. Way way way back in the day (like prior to 9/11/01) Signature DCA handled a vast majority of the traffic headed to Capitol Hill.

Then, overnight, DCA closed to GA traffic, but we all know that. However, Landmark's ramp didn't increase in size overnight, and getting the 19R runup block from the airport authority was the only thing we could do. We also utilize the "Cargo 6" area by FedEX for larger aircraft, and occasionally, we used a ramp next to the "G" airline gates -- by runway 30. So, your hike could be worse.

Landmark handles arrivals and departures all day, rather continuously. Their problem is that they have only about fifteen spots (the first three rows) that are rather useful for parking arriving aircraft. You can't park an arriving aircraft on the runup block when it is full, nor can you park it in the last row where we tail airplanes up to the ditch.

The place is a nuthouse at 1700. You've got guys coming in on quick turns, and you've got everybody and their brother who was there for the day waiting to pick the boss up and get out of there. Those "prime" parking spots can't be help up for more than about an hour each. When you guys say "get me on the line at four" you're sitting there at five, six, and sometimes still seven. If we let everybody do that, we'd have no place for an arriving aircraft on a quick turn.

I know the runup block arrangement sucks. We're paying guys to tow airplanes all day long, and we're paying guys to drive the courtesy van. If we could cut down on our labor costs, I'm sure management would do it in a heartbeat. You're stuck out there not because the ramp guys are lazy (FWIW, they have a very hands-on manager who works outside in the afternoon) but because we have about 70 departable spots, and about 15 arrival slots. Any good departure spot is also an arrival spot.

I know you guys won't stop compalining about it, because it sucks. But, the truth is, it's a logistical necessity with the ramp space that they have.

well spoken...and FWIW I am not one of those pilots who requests to be online 3 hrs. before a "rolling" departure. I know you guys are doing your best.

that being said...I had a pleasant Signature experience yesterday @ BNA. Young lady even offered to clean my windshield! And today, here in HPN Signature was right on the ball...but Rudy's messed up the catering of course.

Murf

 

[murfdawg998]

So what is the deal with the security at BOS? What could they possibly be looking for?

I think the majority of the security breaches happened to be @ BOS on 9/11 so I would say that is why they have the TSAesque security setup over there @ Signature. Of course, it could just be MASSPORT that mandated the beefed up security.