AOGs (Aircraft On Ground) are no fun?

It’s the 3 letters that keep you up at night. It’s the 3 letters that make your hands sweat and your heart race. It’s the 3 letters you hope to never hear again.

AOGs are apart of our commercial aviation world. There’s no hiding from them.

You can accept them, deal with them, and minimize them, but you’ll never eliminate them.

Money Is Lost Every Second

No matter if it's an AOG now, or an AOG 7 days from now, time is money.

When an AOG occurs, you spend thousands of dollars in lost revenue and spend hefty fees to resolve the nagging problem. You become vulnerable. Many suppliers smell the AOG desperation from a mile away. And don’t forget about your freight forwarder. They’ll happily accept your 1 day transport request at a rate 200%+ more than routine freight.

This is why you get so stressed.

There’s a lot of money at stake and for you to get it right is imperative. The cold hard truth is things don’t always go according to plan.

You resolve the problem but then your supplier cancels or your order get’s stuck in customs. Whatever it is there’s hundreds of potential variables that could delay you getting what you need.

Resolve Your Stress Before You Resolve The Chaos

I have seen so many mistakes made in a stressful state.

Just this week we shipped 5 parts for an AOG order to one of our partners, but under his stressful state he AOG shipped the wrong order and forgot to process the right AOG order. A silly mistake with incredible consequences.

He was so stressed that he completely overlooked what was necessary for him to do. This is why work related stress training is so incredibly important. It’s imperative you manage your stress before you manage your AOG.

If you read this blog often you’ll know I talk about managing stress a lot. Stress in aviation is costly. Being able to think clearly and make quick decisions is paramount to you and your fleets success.

Here are a few quick tips to control your stress on the spot, anywhere:

Take a 4 second deep breath, hold for 8 seconds and exhale for 16 seconds. Repeat this 5 times and only pay attention to your breath.
Close your eyes and smile. Think about something that makes you laugh or someone you love. This may sound silly, but trust me the psychology behind it works.
Go outside, preferably where there is trees and fresh air, and be grateful to be alive.
Do a quick 10 minute office workout.

Once you get your heart rate back into a normal state (your heart rate increases the more stressed you are) the better you’ll be able to handle the AOG situation that’s in front of you. You’ll make better decisions, you’ll rely on trusted partners, and you’ll avoid falling for tricks and false promises.

The Top Tip To Deal With An Aircraft On Ground Situation

You’ve heard it all. Quite possibly some of it came from us or here on this blog. Stock more, stock less, tap into a pooling agreement, lease your inventory, pool your safety stock, relay on a Just In Time strategy, whatever it is…you’ll continue to have AOGs.

The best tip to resolve this is simple but often times so overlooked. Work with a partner that creates a “wow” experience for you…99% of the time. I know this sounds way to easy but it makes a huge difference. When you feel like your supplier is a direct subset of your operation, you know the relationship is beneficial.

They help you resolve the problem night or day. They’ll solve it directly or find some way to come up with a solution, either way you benefit from a “wow” relationship and trusted support. You don’t have to do it all on your own.

All too often I see airlines fall victim to false promises and when they realize it, it’s too late. They've wasted time and money.

Lean on someone you trust and that creates a “wow” experience for you. Trust me on this, it makes all the difference in the world. Plus, it's more fun working with someone like this anyway.

P.S. We deal with AOGs every day. Send me an email here and tell me what your AOG problems are. We’ll then begin to help you reduce your stress, resolve your AOGs, and create the “wow” experience you deserve.