Mike Cardy, founder and managing director of UK-based Airside GSE, has been in the ground support equipment business for decades but he is still going strong. He spoke to Mike Bryant about how, after a lifetime in the industry, he has no plans to retire yet
Almost 50 years ago, in 1964, Mike Cardy began his working life when he joined GSE supplier Edgehill as an apprentice design draughtsman. Loving the variety of the job and indulging his passion for all things aircraft-related, he rose through the ranks to become Edgehill’s chief designer and technical director by 1980.
His career after that included roles as technical director and later general manager and finally managing director at ADE, as well as a spell at another big name in GSE manufacturing, Mallaghan. Throughout his career, Cardy says, he was heavily involved in “building up GSE product ranges and bringing them up to date”.
GSE supplier Norquip was the next port of call, where he stayed for a little over two years, at which point Cardy together with two partners chose to form the business that still trades as Airside GSE.
Ensuring quality but staying lean
The business model they opted for was a simple one. “We didn’t want a factory,” he explains. Cardy would do the design work, as he still does today, while the manufacturing of equipment would be entrusted to a select group of sub-contractors. Airside GSE would undertake final assembly of the GSE at the company’s workshop near Basingstoke, however, also as it continues to do today, in order to ensure the highest possible quality finish.
Little stock is carried, further ensuring that the company remains “lean and mean”. The design and development of new GSE under Cardy’s experienced eye remains the primary aim of the company, but as well as offering entirely new ranges of equipment, Airside GSE also supplies spare parts from right around the world to customers for existing GSE and has a flourishing line in GSE refurbishment. In regard to the latter, for example, the company recently started refurbishing 40 of Dnata UK’s towbars. “We’re going to make them look like new,” he remarks, pointing out that work began early this summer on the first batch of the 40.
Towbars are a particular speciality of Cardy’s, but Airside GSE offers numerous other types of GSE, including passenger stairs, water and toilet service units, cargo-carrying equipment, catering trucks, ambulifts, ground power units, air starts and aircraft taildocks. Customers include handlers, airlines and airports, all of which are guaranteed “high quality products and strong after-sales support”, he says. If Airside GSE itself doesn’t have the GSE in stock or isn’t able to supply it, “I’ll know somebody who can and we will be able to offer a package,” Cardy informs.
That’s not to say that the market is easy right now, he admits. In fact, Cardy notes, anyone saying otherwise might not be telling the whole truth. It is very competitive out there in the GSE marketplace and firm orders are in short supply. Nevertheless, interest remains high, as reflected in the number of requests for quotes being received. Plus, new customers are being added all the time, he adds.
Cardy’s intention is for the company to continue to grow as Airside GSE has done from its launch – slowly and carefully. “We don’t take undue risks and we stick to what we are good at,” he explains.
Changing times
The market might be tough, but there are certainly opportunities, some of them arising from the changing nature of the aircraft handling business. One of the major trends in the sector that he points to is the increasing pressure for all parts of the aviation industry to minimise their environmental footprint. Thus, as have so many equipment suppliers, Airside GSE has begun to offer new, electrically driven GSE.
A key customer in this area is business jet aviation manager TAG Aviation, which has placed an order for new electric belt loaders that Airside GSE will also offer to the wider marketplace. Complementing Airside GSE’s electric belt loaders are its electric toilet service units – some of which it is currently refurbishing for TAG – and its electro-hydraulic passenger stairs.
The pressure to produce more environmentally friendly equipment will only grow of course, but there are some trends that probably aren’t here to stay, Cardy considers. For example, the emphasis on lightweight products such as steps that can be moved about the ramp by a single individual may not have been a success, he believes, and we may well see a return to the heavier, more robust equipment that was the norm before low-cost carriers encouraged the development of lighter, cheaper GSE that it was hoped would encourage the fastest possible aircraft turnaround on the apron.
In amongst its core business, Cardy has time for activity that is a little more unusual. He has, for example, supplied a number of retro-style access steps for aircraft exhibits at Imperial War Museum Duxford. Airside GSE has also worked with Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, which describes itself as ‘the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation’.
With interesting diversions such as these to add to an already hectic workload of more conventional GSE supply and refurbishment, Cardy has no thoughts of retirement – even after nearly 50 years in the business.
A new initiative: ‘Thorough Examinations’
Mike Cardy recently formed a new company, Airside Airport Equipment Ltd, which is to work closely with handler DNATA on a collaborative enterprise called Through Examinations.
Thorough Examinations will ensure that all of DNATA’s London Heathrow GSE is inspected and examined in order to ensure that it is safe for use by staff and the passengers that access them. As well as reassuring all those that use the equipment in relation to the safety issue, the procedures adopted will also help to minimise GSE downtime and is expected to result in a marked reduction in aircraft operational delays.
John Edmunds, business manager – central services at DNATA, says that that he has initiated the procedure to ensure that DNATA not only meets, but exceeds the current UK statutory requirements to have GSE thoroughly examined at least every 12 months and – in the cases where equipment is used to elevate and transport passengers and personnel – at least every six months.
He comments: “Ground support equipment can be contradictory beasts, incredibly powerful and yet also fragile, much like the aircraft they service. The slightest knock can take them out of service; this is a serious issue that can lead to expensive aircraft delays, disrupting the operation and passengers’ journey.”
The full press release on this new development can be found at http://evaint.com/industry-news/dnata-leads-the-way-with-airport-equipment-ground-support-equipment-safety
