Best FBO Industry Practices: Don’t Give It Away!

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Beginning with this blog post, we are embarking on a new series that will highlight the best practices we have encountered over the past two decades in working with numerous FBO enterprises.

Included in the mix will be our personal file of best practices garnered from operating and managing a 21-base FBO chain, Mercury Air Centers, along with 11 insightful years of conducting the popular NATA FBO Success Seminars and, recently, the NATA Certified Customer Service Representative (CCSR) program.

We will cover almost every area of an FBO operation. We’ll discuss best FBO industry practices for two dozen topics. Read the full list.

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Aviation Leaders Can Learn from the Legacy of John Rahilly

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For us in the aviation industry, modeling our leadership style after that of veteran industry executive John Rahilly would be a recipe for success. The carefully measured ingredients would include honesty, frugality, kindness and fairness.
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Strategic Fuel Purchasing: Time Your Fuel Purchase to Maximize Your Margin

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Time your fuel purchase to maximize your margin. We teach strategic fuel purchasing at our NATA FBO Success Seminar. The technique is a process of knowing how aviation fuel is priced in your region and when to make the fuel purchase.
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FBO Operations Tip: Managing Your FBO Fuel Prices in a Volatile Market

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No doubt you have noticed the increase in fuel prices. Since the beginning of year, Jet A has increased by more than 20 cents per gallon.

The impact on your FBO can be felt in cash outlay. For instance, if you recently purchased an 8500-gallon load of Jet A, you probably paid $1700 more than in early January.

If you haven’t been diligent about tracking fuel prices and adjusting your posted price along the way, a $1700 hit to the bottom line is substantial. What about increasing those contract prices that always seem to be too low?

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FBO Customer Service: Set the Table with a Three-Course Meal

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Imagine your FBO as the host of a dinner party. Not only are your best customers invited, but your city’s mayor also will be your guest. How do you make sure your party is a success?

FBO managers can set the table for a great customer service experience by maintaining a spirit of service and bringing your “A” game: Attitude, anticipation and action are the three-course meal that will have your customers coming back for seconds and thirds.

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FBOs Share Their Outlook for 2018

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Every January, FBOs begin to gear up for the annual NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Conference where they can attract new business to their ramp while cementing trusted relationships with current customers.

At this year’s conference, Feb. 6-9 in Long Beach, Calif., we had a chance to converse with many FBO owners and operators, as well as schedulers and dispatchers, to find out how they view the health of the industry and if there are any real concerns going forward. We believe the following statements reflect the overall opinion on each subject:

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Survey: 53% of FBOs Increased Fuel Sales in 2017

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Results of Aviation Business Strategies Group’s (ABSG) Annual FBO Fuel Sales Survey indicate that 53 percent of FBOs in the U.S. experienced increased fuel sales in 2017 compared to 2016 with 73 percent of survey respondents giving a favorable rating to the economy.
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FBO Industry Update: Was 2017 a Watershed Year?

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Prior to releasing the results of our Annual FBO Fuel Sales Survey and Industry Forecast for 2018, let’s compare how the FBO industry fared in 2017 to the forecast we made in February last year.
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NBAA Observations: Now Trending in the FBO Business

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NBAA's Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) is a great opportunity to get a 30,000-foot view of the FBO industry. Within the confines of the Las Vegas Convention Center, we found a representative cross section of large FBO chains, small independent “mom & pop” operations and everything in between.
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Creating a Strong Customer-Centric FBO Culture Begs the Question: What Do Customers Really Want?

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Creating a strong customer-centric internal culture at your FBO has many benefits, chief among them being the ability to build long-term profitable customer relationships. The starting point for creating this customer-friendly environment is to listen to your customer by putting yourself in their shoes.
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Establishing an FBO Safety Committee is a Savvy Cultural Shift

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FBO owners, operators and managers who invest in establishing a strong internal safety culture can realize many associated benefits that range from reducing hazards to building long-term profitable customer relationships.
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What Your FBO Can Learn from the United Flight 3411 Video

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With the violent video etched into our minds of the United Airlines customer being forcefully ejected from his seat and dragged from the aircraft, it gives us pause to reflect on the impact that social media reporting has on our lives and the aviation services business.
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Kick the Tires, Light the Fires: FBO Industry Poised to Take off in 2017

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At the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference last week, we encountered nothing short of unbridled enthusiasm for an industry on the cusp of recovery after nearly a decade of depressed fuel sales, fluctuating fuel prices and consolidation.
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2016 FBO Fuel Sales Survey Shows Mixed Bag Results, Forecast for 2017 Is Very Bullish

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Although FBO fuel sales were mixed in 2016, the industry widely expects sales to increase in 2017, according to the results of the Annual FBO Fuel Sales Survey released today by Aviation Business Strategies Group at the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
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How to Run a Better FBO in 2017

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By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG)

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average punching through the 20,000-point ceiling, a new president taking office and an economic engine that seems to be cranking out more horsepower, there is a lot of buzz going on within various U.S. business sectors, including the FBO industry, for a healthy recovery in 2017.

Recently we sent out our Annual FBO Fuel Sales Survey and early returns indicate that there is a new wave of optimism spreading across the country for a recovery in 2017.  The final results of our FBO Fuel Sales Survey, as well as our FBO Industry Forecast, will be released at the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, Feb. 7-10, Ft. Worth, Texas. For reference, here is the link to the 2016 survey. 

With all this good news coming in, here is a look at some successful business strategies we recommend for FBO owners and operators to think about in 2017.

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 1. Increase Operational Productivity
  a. Establish performance goals for customer service delivery,
  b. Measure the productivity of your line service department and maintenance activities.
  c. Increase fuel sales at point of connection.

2. Produce Better Financials
  a. Fine-tune your financial dashboard and obtain information you can act on.
  b. Conduct a market study to help establish better fuel margins.
  c. Measure your financial returns through cash flow analysis and financial ratios.

 3. Mitigate Risk

  a. Create a safety-minded culture.
  b. Invest in an employee training program such as NATA's Safety 1st program.
  c. Develop a strong safety management system (SMS).

4. Build Long-term, Profitable Customer Relationships
  a. Train all employees in good customer service practices.
  b. Empower employees to resolve customer issues at the point of transaction.
  c.  Provide consistent service which builds customer trust.

Along with these strategies, we recommend a continuing education program for the FBO owner, operator, manager and supervisor. Author Stephen Covey, in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, talks about the habit of sharpening the saw, a metaphor for having a balanced program of self renewal.

An excellent source for continuing education and self renewal within the FBO industry is to attend the next NATA's FBO Success Seminar which will be held March 7-8 in New Orleans. These strategies and others will be discussed in more detail.

Please leave a comment on this subject below. If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an email: jenticknap@bellsouth.net, 404-867-5518; ronjacksongroup@gmail.com, 972-979-6566.

ABOUT THE BLOGGERS:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience and is an IS-BAH accredited auditor. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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