Amazing FBO service

sba55

sba55

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sba55
You can read a lot of nice comments on airnav about various FBOs, but my latest experience at Ontario Intl (KONT) was just amazing. I'm trying to come up with some ideas for thanking them, so any ideas would be welcome. I think it's in our interest to have the managers of places like this promoted, too.

On Saturday, we decided to fly down to LA for dinner. I didn't call any FBO in advance because it was a last minute thing. I asked ground what FBOs they had after landing, and I recognized Atlantic Aviation, so we went there. As soon as they saw us, two line guys scrambled to grab some chocks and ran (literally) out to us. They said they didn't expect us yet because their flight tracker had shown us not arriving for another 10 minutes (keep in mind that I hadn't called them and they had no idea we were landing there, but they knew about our tail number anyway). The person behind the counter was really nice and let us know that the TV was running in the pilot lounge and that we could relax there while we were waiting for our friends to come and pick us up. He also mentioned that they would close at 10pm.

We had to wait for an hour to get a table, so by the time we got back to the airport, it was 10:45pm. We figured that the FBO would be closed, but as it turned out, the person we had talked to earlier had to leave, but he had called the general manager because he knew that we wanted to fly back the same night. So the GM was waiting for us and he and two others marshaled us out of parking (we were right in front of the door).

Absolutely amazing. Any ideas what I could do as a nice gesture for those guys?

-Felix
 
sba55 said:
Any ideas what I could do as a nice gesture for those guys?

-Felix
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You just did. Word of mouth will make or break a business. I suggest aside from a comment on AirNav you write a detailed letter to the FBO. Be sure to mention by name those folks who helped you.

If it's your style, why not include a framed picture of you and your aircraft with your letter? Or you could always make a present of a nice one-of-a-kind model (airplane, helicopter, or balloon) to hang in their lobby.

BTW: I know of a few FBOs who use Flight Aware to track arrivals.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Is Guardian the same as Atlantic? Because Atlantic isn't even in the list of FBO's on field at ONT:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/ont

Maybe helping them get on that list, so you can leave a nice comment, would be a good thing to do for them...
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ISTR hearing that Atlantic asked Airnav not to list them, period. Wish I could remember where...

FWIW, I rejected one FBO during planning for the long trip because they had asked Airnav to disable comments about them. I started wondering what they had to hide.
 
jmaynard said:
ISTR hearing that Atlantic asked Airnav not to list them, period. Wish I could remember where...

FWIW, I rejected one FBO during planning for the long trip because they had asked Airnav to disable comments about them. I started wondering what they had to hide.
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All the Atlantics I've been to are not on airnav. Btw., Atlantic is a large national chain, sort of like Signature.

From what I understand, Airnav charges to list FBOs. Also, I'm not really sure that Airnav is as useful as you might think. I've submitted a few negative comments and I know people who have done the same and quite often, those comments won't show up.

In any case, Atlantic, at least on the West Coast, is consistently excellent. It could very well be that some FBOs avoid airnav because they fear negative comments.

-Felix
 
Atlantic is not listed on Airnav at any airport because they threatened Airnav with legal action merely for listing them. Airnav is a very small company and the cost of defending a frivolous lawsuit would be more than their entire profit, so they decided not to list them at all.*

Airnav does charge for an complete listing of an FBO, but there is no charge to just list that it exists, phone numbers, the fuel prices, and the comments. Some FBOs choose not to have comments listed. I interpret that to mean they have something to hide and avoid them in general. Yet Atlantic is the only company whose very presence is hidden.

Atlantic clearly is not interested in business from those who care about fuel prices and the reviews of their fellow pilots. Glad you had a good experience with them Felix, but I have no intention of using Atlantic again unless there is no other reasonable choice.

If you don't think this principle is important, remember the AOPA directory includes fuel prices and comments. How would you feel if a major FBO chain refused to allow listing to AOPA members? Or if you were threatened with a lawsuit for your comments on this board, or if POA was?

The free flow of information in flight planning is crucial to us GA pilots, and I believe far more important than someone sticking around to wait for you.

Jon

*personal communication with Airnav manager.
 
sba55 said:
Also, I'm not really sure that Airnav is as useful as you might think. I've submitted a few negative comments and I know people who have done the same and quite often, those comments won't show up.

-Felix
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Interesting. I've seen some negative comments (not regarding this particular FBO) where the FBO has responded, so I'm not sure what motivation, if any, Airnav would have to not post negative comments. I'm sure it's not easy for Airnav to monitor every comment, and try to stop the obviously attack-oriented ones, though...if they even do...


Trapper John
 
sba55 said:
From what I understand, Airnav charges to list FBOs. Also, I'm not really sure that Airnav is as useful as you might think. I've submitted a few negative comments and I know people who have done the same and quite often, those comments won't show up.
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Oh, they show up all right. Go look at Signature at MKE. :yes: :vomit:

I've seen quite a few negative comments at many airports.
 
4CornerFlyer said:
Atlantic clearly is not interested in business from those who care about fuel prices
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Probably because they're terrible. Maybe 9 months or so ago, my brother and I were trying to find out what the most expensive 100LL in the country was. ORD? Nope. BOS? Nope. Atlantic at TEB was charging over $8/gallon, and that was before the price runup (we were paying about $4.50/gal at the time).
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Probably because they're terrible. Maybe 9 months or so ago, my brother and I were trying to find out what the most expensive 100LL in the country was. ORD? Nope. BOS? Nope. Atlantic at TEB was charging over $8/gallon, and that was before the price runup (we were paying about $4.50/gal at the time).
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Like I said, I don't have much experience with Atlantic on the east coast, other than at KPHL.

I would suspect that there is more going on with Atlantic not wanting airnav to list them. I certainly have had quite a few of my comments not show up, even though they were factual. A friend of mine had a terrible experience with an FBO and submitted a comment. It was posted, but deleted days later after the FBO complained.

Personally, I don't use airnav much for FBO reviews. It's sort of like apartment rating websites. There are a few people that will submit factual and even positive comments, but the opposite is also true more often than I like.

-Felix

PS: Atlantic was over $1.50/gal cheaper than the other FBO on the field, and $5.40 or so per gallon seems a steal given that Ontario is a large airport and their facilities are very nice. I've also been to the other FBO there (Guardian) that has a ton of positive comments on airnav. It was sub-par, to say the least.
 
sba55 said:
Personally, I don't use airnav much for FBO reviews. It's sort of like apartment rating websites. There are a few people that will submit factual and even positive comments, but the opposite is also true more often than I like.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you could share with us the secret then of how to choose an FBO of which you don't have first hand knowledge or a friend who's been there.

Airnav may be a flawed, imprecise, limited tool, but frankly I think it's better than anything else out there for GA pilot to choose fuel stops and FBO's. If you know of a better site, I'd be pleased to learn about it. Keep in mind that I doubt Atlantic has threatened to sue AOPA for publishing essentially the same info as Airnav...then again AOPA has much more money and employed attorneys to fight back against extortion like that.

I've been using Airnav for over a decade, since it was a one-man operation by a guy in New Jersey who ran it for donations at first. The site has literally saved me thousands of dollars, and introduced me to gems of aviation which I would never have otherwise visited.

If you suspect a problem with their comment policy, why not ask them why your comments were not listed.
http://www.airnav.com/info/contact.html
You'll get a prompt and complete answer to you question.

There are many, many airports with dozens of well thought-out positive comments. I go out of my way to visit these airports, and I have never been disappointed.

Jon
 
4CornerFlyer said:
Perhaps you could share with us the secret then of how to choose an FBO of which you don't have first hand knowledge or a friend who's been there.

Airnav may be a flawed, imprecise, limited tool, but frankly I think it's better than anything else out there for GA pilot to choose fuel stops and FBO's. If you know of a better site, I'd be pleased to learn about it. Keep in mind that I doubt Atlantic has threatened to sue AOPA for publishing essentially the same info as Airnav...then again AOPA has much more money and employed attorneys to fight back against extortion like that.

I've been using Airnav for over a decade, since it was a one-man operation by a guy in New Jersey who ran it for donations at first. The site has literally saved me thousands of dollars, and introduced me to gems of aviation which I would never have otherwise visited.

If you suspect a problem with their comment policy, why not ask them why your comments were not listed.
http://www.airnav.com/info/contact.html
You'll get a prompt and complete answer to you question.

There are many, many airports with dozens of well thought-out positive comments. I go out of my way to visit these airports, and I have never been disappointed.

Jon
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There isn't a secret to it. Sometimes you can get first hand knowledge from someone who's used a particular FBO. Other than that, it's airnav and aopa.

-Felix
 
My understanding also is that Airnav charges for a complete FBO listing. On the other hand, Flightaware will list all FBO's and business at an airport for free. What's more, is that they have people on staff that call every FBO in the country each week to update and verify the fuel prices. Click on the Resources link on the left side of the page.
 
Hahahahahaha! I know how Atlantic really is! Did they offer you the .20 cent/gal discount with your AOPA membership?
 
pookies said:
Hahahahahaha! I know how Atlantic really is! Did they offer you the .20 cent/gal discount with your AOPA membership?
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No, and since their service was incredibly good and they stayed an hour after closing without charging us and their fuel price was very reasonable, I wouldn't have wanted them to.

I know how they really are, too. The ones I've been to - MHR, PHL, HWD, ONT, and probably more - have all been outstanding.

Can we stop with the Atlantic bashing? This thread was about how to thank one FBO, not about how to drag them through the mud. :no:

-Felix
 
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