Aviation research

The importance of upgrading FBOs to the aviation industry

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Abstract

An FBO is any business that works under a lease with the airport authority that provides aviation fuel and often could involve other services.FBO's primary products and services are the provisions of fuel and maintenance. In other airports around the globe, FBOs offer their services to contracted airlines and government units. FBOs and the aviation industry have very close ties. This paper discusses the importance of integrating FBOs into the aviation industry and some of the benefits it offers to the industry.

Introduction

Fixed base operators (FBOs) continue to be the primary service providers of general aviation solutions to different aircraft operators worldwide. The FBOs industry comprises thousands of locations across the globe located in airports. According to Long et al. (2020), an FBO is any business that works under a lease with the airport authority that provides aviation fuel and often could involve other services.FBO's primary products and services are the provisions of fuel and maintenance. In other airports around the globe, FBOs offer their services to contracted airlines and government units. Some of the other services provided by the FBOs include cleaning service, baggage handling, and other commercial services.

FBOs play a critical role in the aviation industry as they offer access to a continuous supply of fuel and other amenities. If a sound infrastructure system is not adopted, the entire general aviation industry will be running under fewer options and many challenges. FBOs integration into the aviation industry plays a critical role in ensuring the continued success of the aviation industry and facilitates the provision of services to pilots and serve different aviation stakeholder s in a manner that encourages the overall economic investment and any links to business beyond the airport. Competition among FBOs is exceptionally high, and therefore for one of them to succeed, they med to adopt suitable and sustainable strategies. FBOs and the aviation industry have very close ties. This paper discusses the importance of integrating FBOs into the aviation industry and some of the benefits it offers to the industry.

Background

For thousands and millions of air operators worldwide, the procurement of ground services within airports worldwide is an essential part of every flight(Long et al.,2020). How the logistics are handled from the arrival and departure of aircraft in and out of airports is also a significant part of an airline’s preflight plan. With all the variables and logistics involved in the planning process, the FBOs help solves some issues by helping schedule, dispatch, and manage pilots and other crews for various airlines(Wilson, 2018). This means that the role of FBOs in the aviation industry will continue to grow with time even as we face a current pandemic and issue.

Long before any aircraft departs from one destination to another, loss of communication is always made to ensure the other end of the destination has all the information they need to know(Wilson, 2018). For FBOs, all these are a part of their daily activities as they help ensure the safety and security of passages and airmen. Another importance of FBOs is that they help maintain a positive working environment between airlines and their customer. FBOs act as a link between service providers and their customers as that relations are the best support system one would need to ensure their airline business survives all the storms.

The response that FBOs offer is also vital in ensuring the success of dealing with customer complaints on time and without any hitched. FBOs ease the hassle of fueling, provision of inflight services, and crew transfer from one place to the other in different countries and airports. Integrating FBOs into the aviation industry is, therefore, very important.

Discussion/Analysis

The novel covid-19 virus has dealt with the FBOs industry a considerable blow, especially to independent and small industry players. According to (), many of them feel as though there is no future for them. The industry has suffered from lots of downturns other than setbacks. This section looks at the SWOT analysis of FBOs integration into the aviation industry. A SWOT analysis helps in the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.FBO's currently exhibit different components and factors related to the factors mentioned above.

Strengths

· Good reputation with the existing airport authorities.

· There is stability in vocational training

· Strong government support

· Established operations

· Well-located

Weaknesses

· With the current novel virus, a lot of factors within the aviation industry have reduced significantly. Some of the notable factors that have changed include reducing connectivity, reduced frequency of both airline operators and passengers; there is a significant reduction in capacity, fewer seats, and more extended check-in and queues.

· Besides, the FBOs are dependent on airline operations.

· Independent and small FBOs are at risk of going out of business.

Opportunities.

· FBOs have the opportunity of leveraging the use of technology to develop and adapt to the new normal.

· There is also the opportunity to develop new services such as cleaning services for organizations that focused on line maintenance or one service only. There is also the opportunity to diversify into other markets.

Threats

· Competition amongst the FBOs remains to be the worst threat to the FBOs.

· The occurrence of any other pandemic could prove to be a menace to the FBOs.

With FBOs, the current situation of the virus has put the businesses at risk of closing. Many FBOs missed lots of opportunities to make more revenue before the closure of airspaces across the globe. But as noted, there are lots of opportunities that FBOs can use to come back into the business. The future of the business is bright as organizations can improve their efficiency and reduce costs significantly. Adopting new technology products and services such as the X-1FBO offers organizations insight into what could be.

There is also a need for most organizations to review their insurance structures and plans and whatever costs they have incurred in the process(Hu & Yu, 2020). Every FBO should consider looking at its current insurance plan and see what it can do to cope. Another significant thing is the aspect of operations. Now that operations and frequency of operations have reduced significantly, there is a need to adopt online services and solutions in training employees and adopting new safety measures to ensure the organization's success.

Conclusions

Before Covid-19, the FBO industry thrived with the demand for the FBO's services on the rise. Global travels had surged, and the number of people moving in and out of continents increased. According to Hu & Yu (2020), over 2000 aircraft were on the production line as many people had shifted and appreciated the aviation industry even better. However, Covid 19 set in with a somber mood, a mood of depression. It has led many businesses and countries into recession mainly because of restrictions on airport access and closure of other country's airspaces to date. It is imperative to note that Fixed Based Operators have their hubs within significant airports. Therefore the subsequent closure of airports across the globe resulted in a significant reduction in business operations. The FBO industry is on the decline. Even though customers would continue to use their services, many will face many disruptions caused by schedules and reduced frequencies.

Recommendations

There is a lot of frustration within the industry, and the current wave of Covid-19 has generally spurred that.FBOs need to stop competing and come together to find suitable solutions to existing problems and issues. Limited access to the airports, the adoption of the new safety protocols within the industry, and other factors come in handy in ensuring the industry is back to its feet. Some of the recommendations for FBOs include:

· Develop new services such as cleaning services for organizations that focused on line maintenance or one service only. There is also the opportunity to diversify into other markets.

· Leveraging on the use of technology to develop and adapt to the new normal

· Every FBO should consider looking at its current insurance plan and see what it can do to cope.

· Another significant thing is the aspect of operations. Now that operations and frequency of operations have reduced significantly, there is a need to adopt online services and solutions in training employees and adopting new safety measures to ensure the organization's success.

References

Hu, G., & Yu, H. (2020). Research and Analysis on the Development of General Aviation FBO in China. International Journal of Social Science and Education Research, 3(4), 166-169.

Long, K., Diffenderfer, P., Abramson, C., Carroll, J., & Marple, B. (2020, September). Enabling General Aviation Departure Readiness Information Exchange. In 2020 Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance Conference (ICNS) (pp. 3E2-1). IEEE.

Wilson, D. (2018). State of the FBO industry, 2018. Professional Pilot.