The good and the bad

[scottcolbath]

I refuled my first jet yesterday (the good), and it was not under the best circumstances.

I got a call last week from the town manager, that the airport department head was let go (the bad). He did everything out there; maintenance, grant applications, planning, refueling, etc. And he knew it all as well. This guy was valuable to the airport, and an excellent guy. But the town manager apparently did not think so, so he let him go, along with a somewhat OK severance package. I was told that the public works head and town planner would be picking up the slack. We all know how that usually goes. 

Anyway, I was leaving the house yesterday and I saw a large business jet on approach and the first thing I said to my wife was "I'll bet they will need fuel, and there is nobody to take care of them". So, off to the airport I went, and sure enough, the backup fuel guy (Gus the painter who did that L-39 I shot a while back) is stuck in church and nobody else if available to help.

The pilots wanted to take on about 550 gallons, so between them and me, we figured we could get it done. I grounded the jet (Bombardier Challenger 300, BTW) and got out the hose. The problem is, none of us could remove the overwing filler to install the single point filler. The quick disconnect seemed to be hung up on something. So, I pumped in about 225 gallons in each wing and they let the jet's computer balance out the load after the fact.

I also need to tell you that a business jet came in last week and they wanted some food. The now-gone department head would have called a local restaurant and they would have brought out a nice catered meal. The new guy in charge ordered the people a pizza. That is not the level of service people expect when they are flying in a business jet.

Anyway, it's a sad state of affairs at the Wickenburg airport. We lost an excellent worker, and the attention that the airport and its clientel need will now be dramatically decreased. I see this sort of thing happen all the time in various service driven professions. Management looks at only the bottom line and sees where money can be saved. People, good people, lose their jobs in the name of saving a few bucks. End users suffer. It's a shame.

S.C.