april2024 - 19

electric vehicles aren't the greatest.
It still might be a fossil fuel vehicle.
If it's a station that we're forced into
it, you've got to come up with a solution.
And sometimes (we work with)
our facility side with how we're going
to get infrastructure there for chargers
and planning that all out.
" It's a lot of departments that come
together to make that happen. "
Biedron also contributes to policy
and procedure, setting the scope of
work for preventative maintenance
(PM) programs, refurbishment and
specs for new vehicles.
" Any changes that have to be done
after the fact in the field, any type of
safety programs that we do worldwide,
we would handle that, " he says.
Safety innovations are also a
large part of Biedron's duties, solving
GSE-related challenges from a
global perspective.
" It's one of the big challenges -
local versus global, " Biedron says.
" Everybody wants to do something
local because they see it from
their side. We're seeing it from the
global side. "
He also oversees accident investigations,
reviewing data to help
determine whether operator error
or equipment malfunction was the
cause of an incident.
Despite this range of tasks from
day to day, Biedron remains level-headed
and focused on the job that
needs to be completed.
" We do have a tense environment.
And it's hard to give service with a
smile every day, but Brian is very
sensible, " Davis says. " He listens to
facts. He responds to the facts and
just keeps as accurate as possible.
But he's always helpful. I've never
seen him turn down a request for
information. "
That willingness to help suits Biedron
well because his role requires a
lot of collaboration. He works closely
with other departments internally
With more than 25 years of experience,
Brian Biedron has been a valuable asset
to his team and has made significant
contributions to GSE industry.
at United, authorities like the FAA
regarding safety items and equipment
certifications as well as OEMs
about equipment. He contributes
to the technical side of GSE design,
providing insight on how United's
ground support personnel need
equipment to work as well as how it
will be used and maintained.
" How do we bring that all together? "
he says. " That includes sharing
some personal experiences, and
everyone else's collaboration. "
" We get invited to a lot of discussions,
and Brian is pretty much
the person they pick to be the subject
matter expert on anything we
do, " Davis says.
Behind-the-Scenes Talent
Biedron's 26-year career has been
filled with many memorable
moments. Perhaps most challenging
was during the COVID-19 pandemic
when his department went from a
team of four to just himself.
" It was exhausting. It's the only
way to put it, " Biedron recalls. " It
was just taking everyone's role on,
instead of being able to say, 'Hey, I'm
going to grab this one, I'm going to
grab that one.' It's now just the whole
world is yours. "
During that time, United started
a GSE surplus lot at O'Hare International
Airport (ORD) in Chicago that
Biedron was tasked with maintaining.
" The preservation and storage of
equipment was new, " he says, noting
1,200 pieces of GSE were stored
long-term. " We basically took over
a parking lot, got a couple forklifts
and away we go.
" It was learn as we go. "
Biedron and his colleagues at
United persevered through the pandemic.
He credits this achievement,
among many others, to the brilliant
people making contributions across
the ground support industry.
" There's a lot of talented people
working behind the scenes. I don't
think enough people see that, " Biedron
says. " They all focus on the airplane
and everything, but when you
look at it, it's GSE moving your stuff. "
He explains successful teamwork
is what allows challenges to
be overcome.
" You can get bogged down on
every problem you have coming in.
But at the end of the day, you got to
come up with something and keep
it moving, " Biedron says. " Everybody's
got a bad day, but that day's
going to end. "
Drawing from his own experience,
Biedron says he has had more
good days than bad, and encourages
others to join the GSE world, too.
" Do it, " he says. " Jump in and join
the party. "
April 2024 || AviationPros.com || 19
http://www.AviationPros.com
april2024

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