Aircraft maintenance and support during the show is provided by a team from ATC Lasham, whose responsibilities include moving all aircraft on the runways and surrounding aprons.
The team may be called on to complete up to 36 aircraft movements a day. Unlike previous years, the team faces a more complex logistical challenge at Farnborough 2002 as the runway remains ‘live' throughout the event.
A big job such as this means ATC Lasham had to recruit extra temporary manpower. The company turns to Technical Aid International (Hall 4, F9), which provides recruitment and payroll services for more than 50 specialist engineers working at the airshow.
Approach
The two agencies work together up to six months before the event, co-ordinating operations. It's an approach tried and tested over four airshows.
"It's a big job to get everything done and it's vital that we have fully-experienced staff to do the job well," says Alan Maskell, TAI's business group manager.
"Staff working in this capacity have to have experience of driving around a live airfield. I try and send the same people every time as they know the job well."
TAI has extensive experience of providing staff for short-term, high-profile projects and events such as the Farnborough airshow. As well as its work with ATC Lasham, TAI counts Messier-Dowty, Rolls-Royce, TRW and Smiths among its client companies.
• Wheely great...
Thanks to TAI-supplied engineers, the golf buggy used to transport copies of Flight Daily News around the show site had a tyre change following an overnight puncture on Sunday. Said TAI's Alan Maskell: "This was a good illustration of the high calibre of the teams that we supply to ATC Lasham – they can turn their hands to just about everything."
Source: Flight Daily News
