In The News: Flying More Economical Than Driving, BER Parts To Art, And A Personal 747 Manson

 Flying Is More Economical Than Driving

It is official that flying is more efficient than driving a car. Moving one person 1 mile consumes 2,465 BTU's in a plane, VS. 4,211 BTU's in a car. Click here to read more.

Original article by Shane Ferro

Turn Your BER Parts Into Art

You probably have a warehouse full of BER aircraft parts that are useless.  Well why not dress up your office with some of those old parts. Click here to get some ideas. I like number 9 the best!

Original article by Julian on Business Pundit

Boeing 747 Refit To Be Personal Plane

We all wonder what it would be like to be wealthy and buy anything we wanted. Well check out what this mystery man did to a 747 he turned into a flying 400 million dollar home! Check it out here.

Original article by Hugo Gye

The Poor Communication Epidemic

As the world shrinks through our ability to connect with one another via the vast webs of the internet, our communication skills begin to suffer.

It's a poor communication epidemic. It’s a virus that's plaguing every industry and felt in our hyper connected yet incredibly misunderstood aviation world.

The people affected most are the heart of the industry, airlines, yet they too are guilty of such an epidemic.

Our VP Nate Anglin, attended the MRO Americas conference and during one of the sessions, Alex Gorinsky from Southwest Airlines mentioned that we’d be surprised that poor communication exists even with their supply chain partners.

From big airlines to small, poor communication bleeds through the pores of every supply chain.

Most supply chain complexities are hard to fix yet communication is the easiest to overcome. It requires a little human focus.

It’s all about the win / win

In every relationship creating win / win relationships has positive long term effects. Ken Newton from Alaska Airlines puts it well when he says he doesn’t want to put all the burden on the supplier. It’s creating a winning relationship, and if the supplier makes money then Alaska Airlines makes money by being able to keep it’s fleet in the air. It’s not a complicated thought but it’s so important and yet still misunderstood.

Many times the supplier cares more about the financial gain than the long term relationship. This has detrimental effects both on trust and on an airline's operating objectives. The same is true for airlines and MROs putting burden onto their suppliers, stripping margins, and focusing on the “Everyday Low Cost” Wal-Mart special pricing, yet they still demand high quality and short TATs. Cheap does not create value. With cheap prices comes cheap service and solutions. This reduces the long term value being created and in the end more time and money is being spent.

The most effective collaboration is one with efficient communication that is focused on a win / win relationship, both for the airline and supply chain partners.

Listen then talk

When you talk with your aircraft component supplier, who does most of the talking? It shocks me that most of the time, suppliers would rather talk than listen. They talk about their services, the part numbers, the prices, and don’t forget to come back to them if you find anything better.

I’ll now be blunt…it’s stupid.

Rarely is someone in purchasing asked, you seem to have problem x? I can imagine this affects your operation in x ways. How does this affect you personally? You would then explain to them your deepest darkest concerns while they listen. They would absorb, translate, and comprehend your situation. They would then suggest possible ways to resolve your issues. Not once was selling a part mentioned. It’s about the resolution of problems and inefficiencies were the greatest value is created.

Listening is the start of effective communication. If someone doesn't listen, you might as well talk to the wall, your dog, or possibly your spouse? Kidding of course.

Hire partners slow, fire partners fast

Most of our supply chain partners love working with our team. MROs have said “everyone I talk to at Skylink from purchasing to A/P is an absolute pleasure to work with” and “The owners of Skylink must have an amazing HR department, everyone I speak to is top notch and respectful.”

Isn’t this the point?

Our HR policy is rather simple and so is working with suppliers. We hire slow and fire fast. If we have a toxic team member who doesn’t embody our core values, they won’t be on our team for long. We don’t care about the temporary disruption, toxic personalities bleed through our organization. We have the same principles with suppliers which is why we follow a preferred vendor system. We’ll hire slow and fire fast. If it creates a tempororay supply chain issue, we’ll figure something out so we can continue to create “WOW” experiences for our customers.

If you have a toxic supply chain partner who doesn’t listen, fire them. I assure you there’s someone who can replace them.

In a world that’s hyper connected, in an industry that never sleeps, poor communication continues to plague the industry.

Remember, in order to overcome the epidemic, create win / win relationships and your partners must listen more than they talk. Fire fast and hire slow.

P.S. Are you looking to replace your supply chain partners who care more about themselves than they do for you? We listen and we listen a lot. Fill out the form below and get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

In The News: Star Wars Themed Plane, Re-designed Interiors, And A Revolutionary Airplane Toilet

 

Star Wars Themed Airplane

All Nippon and The Walt Disney Company have teamed up to create a one of a kind Star Wars airplane, check it out here!

Original Article by Kevin Polowy

The Future Of Flying For Passengers

Each year cabin interiors get more and more comfortable for the passengers. This year Boeing and Airbus came out with designs for a few modifications that look amazing! Click here for the original post.

Original Article by Mark Wilson

Zodiac Has Revolutionized The Airplane Toilet

Usually toilets aren't very exciting but Zodiac has changed the game. These changes will actually benefit aircraft mechanics more than anyone, in turn saving maintenance teams time and money. Click here for the original post.

Original Article by Marisa Garcia

In The News: Boeing's New Sleep System, Man Falls Asleep In Cargo Hold, Ways To Relax When Flying

Boeing Comes Up With A New Sleep System For Passengers

Boeing has recently been awarded a patent for a new sleep system which secures to each passengers seat allowing for a more comfortable sleep. This system is designed so the passenger would lean forward to rest instead of back in their seat. Click here to read more.

Original article by AOL

Man Falls Asleep In The Airplane Cargo Hold

A baggage handler on an Alaska Airlines flight leaving from Seattle heading to Los Angeles apparently fell asleep in the cargo hold. He woke up shortly after takeoff, and was banging on the floor. The pilot was notified and they landed shortly after. Click here to check out the original article.

Original article by CBS

A Few Ways To Make Your Flight More Enjoyable

Flying can be a stressful thing even for aviation professionals. Even if you aren't completely afraid of flying Click here to read more about how you can calm your nerves when flying!

Original article by Nicola Garrett

How To End The Day After A Stressful AOG

Stress is common and a big part of your aviation life. It grabs you tight, suffocating your every move.

Most days are made up of you scrambling to resolve the next urgent issue. One after the other. Urgent and more urgent.Your aircraft blew 3 tires, debris cracked your windshield, and your toilet valve jammed. You have the pressure of resolving these issues or being blamed for the downed aircraft. The stress beats you up, day in and day out.

Wouldn't it be great if you could accepts these stressful times and still be able to relax and prepare for the next day?

It’s possible….

Never bring chronic stress home

Bringing stress home is inevitable, it happens. I do it all the time. It’s very difficult to divide the two and no matter how much you try to escape it, it will follow you. Stress in its most basic form is healthy. On the other hand chronic stress kills you. You make bad decisions and it makes you anxious, tired, and wore out.

Control your chronic stress. It’s the fastest way for you to become unhealthy, tired, and unmotivated. It’s even a faster way to upset your home life.

Watch the sunset

Getting away from stressful events is key to giving your mind a break. A well deserved break. A great way to do this is to go somewhere quiet and watch the sunset. There’s something tranquil and amazing about it.

While you watch it set don’t worry about the next AOG, or what vendor really makes your life difficult, just be present, you and the sun. As the sun sets for one more day think about what you’re grateful for.

Spend an hour in nature

This is one of my favorites. Sit outdoors, breathe the fresh air, and surround yourself with green trees. If you’re in a big city, get on the roof top.  When you get back to nature it has a natural calming effect. It gives you the ability to clear your head and be present in the moment. Something that can be lost in the 24/7 aviation hustle and bustle.

Exercise, meditate or do yoga

Yoga and exercise get’s oxygen flowing through your body. When you’re stressed, you’ll need more oxygen. You don’t have to be the next bodybuilder, just do a quick exercise (even in your office) and get the blood flowing. Don’t over complicate it. Just get moving.

It’s not quite exercise but meditating helps you to eliminate the chatter in your head. It makes you be present and quiet the noise with everything else you have going on. Do a quick 5 minute meditation in your office and it’ll do wonders on your stress.

Take an epsom salt bath with lavender

This may sound funny to you but it really works. Fill your bathtub up with hot water and pour in a cup of epsom salt. Then add 1 - 2 drops of lavender oil and immerse yourself in tranquility for 30 minutes. The epsom salt will help relieve stiff and sore muscles while the lavender oil helps you relax.

Turn the lights down, listen to music, and enjoy the company of others

Once the sun sets turn down your home's lights. I prefer candlelight as it helps prepare my mind for bed. Blue light at night suppresses the secretion of melatonin which then affects your quality of sleep. Reduce the light overload and chill out with dim lights and music, and get together with the people you love most.

Aviation is stressful, there’s no doubt about it. You feel overwhelmed, high pressure, and high demand. The best thing you can do for yourself is de-stress and unwind after a long day. This will only help you be more awesome the next day.

P.S. At Skylink, it’s our mission to take the stress out of aviation. We have several programs to do just that.  Fill out the form below and speak to the best Account Manager in the industry.

In The News: Boeing & NASA Team Up, The Inside Scoop On Flying

The Inside Scoop: Questions You Always Had About Flying Answered!

There are thousands of moving pieces in aviation and thousands of questions we all want answered. If you've ever wondered how much jet fuel a plane uses on a flight, or why planes leave long white trails in the sky, or even what happens if the toilet on a plane fills up ...check out this post by clicking here.

Original article written by Chris Kitching

NASA And Boeing Team Up!

Nasa and Boeing have joined forces to come up with more efficient fuel saving solutions for the future. One of these techniques they are looking into is called Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Flight. In this experiment they are looking to attaching 31 smaller jets across the back of the planes tail, changing the flow of air. Estimations state that fuel use can be lowered by up to 6% if the flow of air is more streamlined. For more, click here.

Original article by Tyler Lee

Skylink's Trip To Chile

Just a few weeks ago a couple members of our Skylink family got to go meet some of our extended family down in Vina Del Mar, Chile. Vina Del Mar means the vineyard by the sea, and the name truly speaks for itself, the views of the ocean are absolutely amazing. Below is a picture of Nate Anglin and Evelyn Rios having a wonderful lunch right by the sea with Mario Vigorena who is our Skylink team member in Chile.

In addition, while they were in Chile, they had the pleasure of attending a ceremony celebrating the 92nd anniversary of the creation of the Naval aviation branch. They discussed the history of their navy, and how it became what it is today. Below are a few pictures of the ceremony.

Also check out this stunning plane located on the base!

After such an amazing trip, and getting to meet some of our great friends, all good things must come to an end…

How To Deal With Unresponsive People

In the non-stop aviation world there’s nothing more frustrating and annoying than an unresponsive supply chain partner. From major airlines to small 2 aircraft fleets, from small aircraft maintenance MROs, to international lessors, it’s a topic I hear about often.

Maybe it’s a colleague, another department, a supplier, or even an OEM. Unresponsiveness is rude. Unresponsiveness bottlenecks decisions. Unresponsiveness wastes time and money. And the biggest of all, unresponsiveness causes you stress.

It happens all the time. Just over a month ago we procured a part for stock replenishment. The repairable part arrived in terrible condition. The new vendor we were testing has been unresponsive. He never replies to emails, his receptionist sends us to voicemail, and he doesn’t pick up his cell phone. He just doesn’t care. The sad part is he's the owner.

I used to be a tyrant with our supply chain partners. Yelling and screaming when they screwed up and if they had the nerve to ignore me, I would be quick to give them my opinion. One time I told a GSE OEM I would be invoicing them a consultancy fee since I was coaching them on how to do their job. Yet today, I’ve taken a much different approach. An approach I’ll share with you below.

Now, I just sit back and laugh. In this hyper connected world (which poses other problems reserved for a future post) many people are becoming less connected to their aviation responsibilities.

But here’s how we can stop the unresponsive epidemic:

No excuses for sales

Let me just start off with a quick disclaimer. If you’re in sales and have an established client who needs you, being unresponsive is absolutely ridiculous.

No matter how mad they made you, no matter what’s going on at work or at home, you smile and reply as soon as you can. There is no other option.

If you cannot smile and reply, you just don’t care and you shouldn’t be in sales. It’s as simple as that.

Dissect the reasons they may not be responding

Someone may not respond for many reasons when she...

• feels unsafe.
• isn’t aware of any thoughts or feelings.
• literally doesn’t know what to say or do.
• is distracted or overwhelmed by something and can’t tell you.

The  fourth reason is the most understandable. Someone literally is pulled from the phone and email and can’t tell you they’re in the middle of something. This is avoided if they have support that can still answer some questions for you or at least tell you she’s out.

In order to truly get to the bottom of someones unresponsiveness, dissect why they may not be replying. Do they not care? Are they really busy? Is this the first time they’ve been unresponsive?

The best measure if someone just doesn’t care is if it’s a recurring theme. If it’s something they always do, then being unresponsive is in their nature and you won’t change that.

Communication works both ways

The next step is to evaluate how you’ve communicated. If you’re unresponsive then don’t expect others to be responsive when you want them to be. Effective communication works only when there are two parties present.

Refine and update your communication skills. When 2 or more parties are in a dialogue that follows effective communication, so many good things can happen.

If you ignore then prepare to be ignored as well.

Create a “WOW” experience with everyone

At Skylink, it's one of our core values to create “WOW” experiences. Everyone must do this when communicating. Whether you’re in sales, operations, accounting, it doesn't matter. Be present for the other person, help resolve issues expediently, go over and beyond, rinse and repeat.

Most people would rather use the excuse they’re too busy than to help someone.

Create a list of responsive people

The next step is to create a list of partners and people who are hyper responsive. On the supply chain side we call this our preferred vendors list but this can be in any department.

Create a list of people who are willing to be there for you day in and day out. You can connect with their work phone, mobile, text, email, and the hundreds of other apps that have us all connected nowadays. They create “WOW” experiences for you.

Put these people on your speed dial and remember, responsiveness works both ways.

Fire the unresponsive

The next and easiest step is to fire the unresponsive.

Like my story in the beginning, this company was fired from any relationship with Skylink. When it comes to being responsive, you don’t get very many chances. The people who never reply and show they really don't care, fire them.

Agree to quit putting yourself through the pain of working with people who don’t care. Agree to firing these people from all communications with you and put your energy into people who care.

Dealing with unresponsive people is common. It’s annoying and frustrating. How you decide to work with these people will be the sole determinant on how much stress is created in your aviation world. You decide, choose wisely and fire the unresponsive.

P.S. If you know of someone who suffers from an unresponsive supply chain partner, share this article with them.

P.P.S. Here at Skylink, we create “WOW” experiences backed by industry leading solutions for the hectic aircraft maintenance world. Fill out the form below and lets start talking about how we can serve you.

Aviation News: Emirates In Orlando, Orient Thai's Safe Landing, TSA Screening List

In the news: Emirates arriving In Orlando!

Just last week we got some wonderful news that our Orlando International family is growing!

Emirates will begin flying a daily route from Orlando International Airport non stop to Dubai starting on September 1, 2015.

Frank kruppenbacher stated that this move will have about 100 million dollar economic impact on Central Florida.

The president of Emirates Sir Tim Clark had this to say in a recent press release, “Orlando is one of the world’s premier leisure and conference destinations, a dynamic business centre and a destination which Emirates has long wished to serve,” Additionally, “As a growing region, we believe that our service will facilitate further growth for both Orlando as well as central Florida by connecting the city with our global network of 145 destinations across 80 countries; and give customers from Orlando the choice of flying Emirates whilst experiencing our award-winning in flight product and service.”

For obvious reasons this is huge news for us, and we hope you are as excited as we are!

Original post by Richard Bilbao

Additional news: Orient Thai's flight makes emergency landing

We were worried for a moment, but happy to hear that our friends at Orient Thai are all safe.  A flight en route to Chengdu from Phuket had to make an emergency landing after the plane rapidly lost altitude. Oxygen masks were deployed, but the plane landed safely and there were no major injuries.

Original post by Chris Kitching

More news: TSA’s list of suspicious behavior comes out

As It turns out being randomly selected isn't always so random. They do in fact have a list of “suspicious activities” to look out for, all of which are attached to a point system. Get yourself too many points, and you could land  in a screening room. But this is a good thing that our TSA security is watching out for us, just don't be to fidgety or  be whistling next time you’re going through security!

Orginal post by Josh Hicks

How Aviation Affects Your Home Life & How To Manage It

Commercial aviation! An industry that never sleeps and when it doesn't sleep, neither do you. It’s a constant sleep with one eye open moment.

AOGs, failed components, vendor issues, you name it, you deal with it. It’s an ever revolving cycle of important and urgent.

The constant demand of aviation inevitably trickles into your personal life. Your life at home. Your life on the weekend. 24 hours, 365 days a year.

Yet we LOVE this industry. We are able to hug a loved one living 6,000mi away in under 24 hours. Such a marvel that's unachievable without amazing, hard working people to support it.

As amazing as this feat is, it’s stressful trying to keep up with the high, 24/7 demands. A stress that inevitably affects your life at home. Or maybe you're even asking, what life at home?

That leads me to a perfect story. In Q1 we had several airline partners that got stationed in another country to oversee their aircraft C checks. One in Jordan, the other in China. These projects took them away from home, for 45 - 60 days. During this time, we stayed available 24/7 to help support them. Even our VP had to deal with certain activities late on weekends and during his business travels abroad, not to mention the daily late night calls. Everybody involved worked 24/7 with the pressure felt every day. But who more than our partners who got pulled from their families and stationed in another country for months.

But that’s what it takes and that’s why we love it.

The world of commercial aviation is growing. It won’t stop. Well, until we can teleport to another country or a drone picks us up and drops us off. But for now, airlines are the key to global transcendence.

Aviation affects your home life and always will

Since you work in aviation you bring your work home. No need to guess, I know it. Your cell phone is tied to your hip and the calls and emails never stop.

The 5 top things I hear from my airline peers on how aviation affects their lives are:

1. AOGs keep them awake at night. Losing sleep or being woke up in the middle of the night is common.
2. Unpredictability keeps them on edge.
3. International support makes them have to manage different time zones.
4. Constant pressure of prices, lead times, and quality.
5. They often feel they have to babysit support partners.

You love this industry and so do I. Managing your home life and aviation is possible. You’ll never stop the collisions of work and home, but you definitely can manage the stress that goes along with it.

Manage your home life

One of the biggest triggers on why aviation affects your home life is how you manage stress. The second trigger is that you’re relying on the wrong people to support you. The third trigger is the strategies you currently use are not supporting you efficiently enough.

Stress isn’t a bad thing. It keeps you on your toes and agile. It’s the chronic stress that you bring home that affects your life the most. It reduces your energy, hurts your brain's performance, and makes you miserable. Nothing to brag about. We’ve talked about stress in detail before. The first step you need to take is by getting your stress under control. It’ll help you make better decisions and give you the energy you need to perform in this never idle industry.

Who do you surround yourself with? Are your partners after your money or there to create valuable solutions? Answering these questions is important. The people you rely on the most  may not be the best for your situation. They could even add more stress and chaos to your life than you need. Sit back in your chair and think about the people you work with daily. Colleagues, suppliers, and MROs. Is there people who create more stress for you than others? Their job is to help create solutions. If you find they create more problems, figure out a way to replace them and surround yourself with people who create “wow” experiences.

The strategy trigger is the most difficult one as it relies on big change. A good example is from one of our airline partners. They fly at high altitude and approach landing over a mountain. This puts constant demand on their aircraft so AOGs are frequent. Their past strategy was buying AOG components as needed.  They relied on their leasing partner to provide the spares, yet 2 countries away they only took their money and provided no solution to reduce their AOGs. This didn’t help anyone's stress levels. A better solution we proposed was through our pooling strategy. We would guarantee stock for AOG, no-go components 24/7. They no longer had to “wait” for AOG support. They also didn’t have to tie up cash into supporting their own costly inventory. A simple win/win that nearly eliminated the primary stresses because a trusted partner  understood them and the value they needed. Look into your own strategy and think of the problems you currently have. Can they be resolved another way? Can you rely on a trusted partner to help you achieve this?

These are all very important questions to answer.

Aviation will continue to affect your home life, but it’s how you manage the two that will create the happiness you so well deserve.

Reduce your stress, surround yourself with good people, and take on value based solutions.

P.S. We understand the value you deserve which is why we are on a mission to create “WOW” experiences. The programs we offer here are to make your life easier. Fill out the form below and one of our top notch team members will be in touch immediately.