May_2021 - 18

COVER STORY

is from the Minneapolis area, I ended up
moving up here, " he recalls.
" Aviation still intrigued me. So, I
thought, 'Why not use the G.I. Bill and
reset and do something that actually looks
very interesting to me? That's how I ended
up in aviation when I moved up here. "
Bourbeau earned his aviation management degree and got his dispatch license.
He left to work in scheduling and dispatching but returned to the FBO soon after.
He started as a line tech at Premier Jet
Center under previous ownership and was
promoted to a line supervisor role.
" I held the supervisor role for some time
and then was promoted to the manager role
within the line department when Fargo Jet
Center came in, " he adds.
During his tenure at the FBO, operations
have changed drastically.
" We started with only pumping 8,000 to
10,000 gallons a month of jet fuel, " Bourbeau says. " Now, we average about 140,000
to 150,000 gallons a month. "

Team Growth
Bourbeau credits leadership at Fargo Jet
Center for fostering growth, both for the
FBO and his own career.
" They really gave me free reign of going
after our competition's customers and
growing the department, " he says. " It was
three other guys and me that started with
the line department. We went from there
to 25 people. "
Within his department, Bourbeau oversees line techs, customer service representatives (CSRs) and a CSR supervisor.
" We have four shift line supervisors
that are responsible for running the ramp
daily operations each day of the week, " he
explains. " I have one training supervisor
that is responsible for onboarding and
training new hires, and I have one ground
support equipment (GSE) mechanic. "
When Bourbeau's tenure in aviation
began, he didn't receive a lot of mentoring.
However, when Fargo Jet Center purchased
PJC, he worked closely and collaborated
with Fargo Jet Center's line manager Jeremy
Sobolik, learning a great deal along the way.
" He was more of a mentor, and he
helped me figure out how we should be
doing things, " Bourbeau says. " We worked

18 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

through the whole IS-BAH certification
process for Premier Jet Center - actually
developing systems and manuals and getting things into place for truly running the
line department. "
Bourbeau adds that Sobolik has been a
tremendous resource because supervisors
often have similar expriences.
" We see the same issues, the same problems, the same successes, the same failures.
We're able to bounce each other's ideas off
one another, and figure out the best way
of approaching something, " Bourbeau
says, adding he frequently collaborates
with members of the NATA's safety committee, too.
With a larger line department, Bourbeau
says onboarding requirements have needed
to be improved.
On his first day as a line tech, Bourbeau
recalls a supervisor having him begin with
washing a plane. Then that task was interrupted when the ramp suddenly got busy.
" He would say, 'We've got to marshal a
plane in.' Then it was, 'Oh, this is how you
fuel an aircraft,' " Bourbeau says. " I was just
hoping I knew what I was doing.
" Now, we have a training supervisor, " he
continues. " The training supervisor is with
you that first week from 9-5. Then the next
two weeks, your training supervisor is with
you on your shift. The shift supervisor
is assigning you tasks, but your training
supervisor is with you the whole time.
" Then you get turned over to the shift
supervisor and they mentor you for the
next couple weeks. "
Bourbeau also notes trainees wear yellow
shirts, so experienced staff know who is
still learning on the job.
Bourbeau expects a lot of his team. He
says that while a line tech is often viewed
as an entry-level position, the responsibilities and requirements of that employee is
often more.
" Moving multi-million dollar jets and
having the responsibility to fuel and take
care of high-profile clients, that's not an
entry level position if you want a certain
caliber of service, " he says. " You can call it
an entry-level position, but you're going to
get that entry-level candidate working for
you. If you want a certain level candidate,
you need to be able to pay and support that.

MAY 2021

" One thing we've done
is stretch out the pay to
enable guys to stay here
longer. "
Bourbeau credits this strategy for
keeping key members of his team
intact throughout
the FBO's rapid
growth and battling
staff turnover.
" You're able to keep
senior guys on every
shift, " he says. " Your
clients aren't seeing new line techs
being turned over
every couple months. "
The FBO's equipment needs have grown
the last several years as well. As Premier Jet
Center has established its fleet, Bourbeau
has continued looking at supplementing
the fleet with new or upgraded equipment.
" When I started, I had a Kubota tractor
for aircraft towing, a 3,000-gallon Jet A
truck and a 750-gallon low lead truck, "
Bourbeau recalls.
Now, the fleet includes that Kubota tractor, which is no longer used for towing, two
LEKTRO tugs, two conventional tugs, three
5,000-gallon refuelers and a deicer.
" I was able to watch some auctions and
get a deice truck off an airline surplus from
Houston, Texas, for a great price. It was
one of those rare finds, and we've had a
solid Type I/Type IV deice truck for a few
years, " Bourbeau says. " Because we have
this capability, we do all the deicing for
the whole airport, even the other FBOs. "

Fluid Leadership
With a military background, it may not be
surprising to learn Bourbeau feels strongly
about observing a chain of command and
holding individuals accountable for their
work. These two principles ring true when
he communicates with his team.
If, for example, a change in procedure
is disseminated, and Bourbeau notices it's
not being performed on the ramp, he works
with his supervisor to correct it.
" I'll go to that supervisor and say, 'Have
we addressed with the line techs? " he says.

May_2021

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