Help me Design a Pilot Lounge

[landlover]

an exercise room, but with real free weights. not a broken treadmill.

 

[PilotKitch]

Showers are very nice, especially if you have nearby golf courses so we can wash up after a round on a day trip. Pilots love free stuff, doesn't matter what it is, cookies, popcorn, pens, mouse pads, etc. Be careful though most of them will take anything not nailed down. Meridian at TEB is great, computers that print, movie room, snooze rooms, and a gym with showers.

 

[jasonwb]

gotta have the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie baker.
i know guys who will pick FBO's for their cookies......
i personally like the cookies, but the most important things are comfortable lazy boy recliners, good selection of TV channels, snooze rooms, and showers if possible.....
......Addison Express at ADS, which i think is now First Air(havent been there in a couple of years) had a pool table...great way to kill a couple of hours....

Good Luck!

 

[75 Driver]

A Separate Room for Netjets

Who can stand their constant bitching, and not to forget of course two Netjet nerds screaming at the top of their lungs about the bible and how they are intimately familiar with God. I need a place to relax and these guys just do not get it.:smash:

 

[peter185]

Southwest Air Services at Ellington Field has the best pilots lounge bar none, the only problem is that its for military pilots and you need a code to access the area.

 

[CA1900]

75 Driver needs a hug. :laugh: Sorry you had to see our 5%.


Take a look at the Scottsdale Air Center for an excellent place to start. It's one of my favorite FBOs, without question. Some perks of its crew lounge:

• Completely separate from the noisy FBO desk and from the passenger waiting area. That's huge. Having every seat in a pilot lounge taken by passengers is a real peeve.
  
• Has a crew bathroom (with shower), a separate excellent kitchen with full-size fridge, high-powered microwave, a soda fountain, and Keurig coffee machine.
• A separate computer area next to the lounge, with a couple WSI machines and a couple of regular internet computers.
• Wifi, of course. FBOs should all have it.
• Several sets of tables and chairs for eating lunch, working, or whatever.
  

Things I'd like to see more often:

• Real cream for the coffee. Mini-Moos (no refrigeration needed) will work, but for heaven's sake, keep that Coffee Mate (liquid or powder) far away from the coffee. Corn syrup was never meant to be in coffee.
  ​
• Coat rack, as others have said. One with individual hangers is best.
• Second microwave; they're cheap!
  
• More power outlets for charging laptops and cellphones throughout the room.
• Little rooms with doors for people to make phone calls. And a baseball bat for the guys who make calls the middle of the lounge.
  
• A laser printer that can be used on the wireless network. Lots of folks use fltplan.com and are at the mercy of an FBO computer. If we could print directly from a laptop, it'd be a big help. If not on the wireless, than one with a free USB connector would work. Make sure it's a laser, not an inkjet. It's a little more money initially, but will save a ton of money on ink versus an inkjet, and is not prone to clogging.
  
• Screen hooked up to a camera, to watch the front door of the FBO for passengers coming in. Some FBOs have this in the lounge, and it's very handy. MillionAir in ADS has one that looks straight down on the girls at the desk; that works too.
  

And please put in a TV that doesn't get Fox News or MSNBC.

 

[ksu_aviator]

If you want to go for the whiz-bang-wow, look into the sports bar tv set-up. Nothing is worse than walking into a pilot's lounge and some one is watching the history of watches....and it is a marathon...and his passengers won't be there for 5 hours.

3 or 4 tvs, with individual speakers at each chair would be great.

http://www.museumspeakers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=82

Home theater seating in leather chairs (I prefer cloth until you walk into a lounge with a chair and 5 pounds of grime are stuck to the chair and you aren't sure if it was once blue or green).

At least one round table for eating lunch and/or updating charts.

A closed circuit television trained on the front door.

Wireless and convenient outlets are very helpful too.

And no where near the line...in fact...put it as far away from the line as possible. Some places miss the point in putting the crew room where the ramp noise is virtually as loud as the ramp itself. The point is to relax.

Quiet rooms are an absolute must, but I prefer chairs over beds...it is probably irrational, but I'd rather sit in a chair after someone then lay in a bed after someone.

 

[BoilerUP]

And please put in a TV that doesn't get Fox News or MSNBC.

Or those schmucks that do Fast Money on CNBC...

 

[semperfido]

gotta have the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie baker.
.[[/I]

forget the popcorn and cookie makers. you really want to get fat and out of shape? just look around at pilots that eat that crap.

 

[LR60BOY]

Pay a visit to Houston Sugarland. KSGR

 

[cheyflyer]

Pay a visit to Houston Sugarland. KSGR

Indeed!!

 

[jasonwb]

yeah, i used to go into SGR when they were in the old FBO and go to go in the new one a few times.....it is really good.......all the bells and whistles for us pilots..

JB

 

[Twotter76]

I agree with whoever said Falcontrust in TMB. That is the model of what an FBO should be. The Air Center in SDL is excellent too. Don't forget to put an actual table with chairs in the crew room so I don't have to try and eat in a recliner.

 

[flyguy75000]

What about the Golden Tee Complete/Silver Strike combo machine?

I can't remember where, but maybe it was an FBO at PTK that had one or two. It was somewhere in MI. The coolest sh*t ever in an FBO, that I've actually seen.

A brass pole with some live talent would be nice too.........

 

[RipCurl]

What about the Golden Tee Complete/Silver Strike combo machine?

I can't remember where, but maybe it was an FBO at PTK that had one or two. It was somewhere in MI. The coolest sh*t ever in an FBO, that I've actually seen.

FNT... the desk help isn't bad either...

 

[FR8mastr]

Already mentioned but,
1.Closed circuit on the door so we can wait on the lazy boy for the pax instead of pacing the lobby.
2. Definitely a room for phone calls so we all dont have to hear the sorted details of everyones latest problems.
3. Like previously mentioned a baseball bat to enforce #2.
4. Fresh iced tea, not everyone wants coffee 24-7.
5. Isolated from pax.
6. A phone in the weather room that will connect with clearance delivery.

 

[semperfido]

4. Fresh iced tea, not everyone wants coffee
.

Make that Iced Green tea!

 

[Bullitt]

I agree with the FBO at SGR. Great place and the service is normally excellent. A brass pole with talent would definately be a nice touch!

 

[say again]

Snore strips for some that happen to pass out while watching TV

 

[ksu_aviator]

Make that Iced Green tea!

Oh good lord why?

If you want green tea, pee in it. :cartman: