Airline Equipment

Find the airline equipment for your business needs
By Nikki Davis Airline equipment is a broad topic, but there are three very important aviation supply areas to be concerned with: airline catering equipment, airline ground support equipment and aviation safety cabling equipment. Finding US suppliers can be easier in some areas over others, but finding the right vendor to supply your airline or airport in a cost-effective manner will help you add profit to your bottom line.

Aviation supply vendors abound, and some often cater to a wide variety of commercial airline equipment. Bulk purchasing can often lead to discounts, but finding the right combination of supplies from one vendor can be tricky.

To find the right airline supplies:

1. Determine what inventory you need.

2. Determine your budget.

3. Consider purchasing used, refurbished or surplus airline equipment over new airline supplies to save money.

Purchase airline ground support equipment

Buy the necessary airline ground support equipment to keep your airport and airline in business. Commercial airline ground support equipment can include such items as lifts, trucks and carts.
Try:  Purchase airline ground support equipment from LIFT-A-LOFT, located in Muncie, IN. They offer a wide variety of products including high reach aircraft maintenance lifts, cabin service, high speed tow trucks, portable water trucks and lavatory service. Buy new, used and refurbished ground equipment from Century GSE. Find running gear and its component parts for aviation dollies and carts from Ground Support Products. They also offer tires, wheels and casters. Global Ground Support is an ISO 9001:2000 - certified business that offers parts and services for ground support needs.

Find airline catering equipment and service providers

Airline catering equipment is hard to find in the US, but there is one airline food equipment provider and many service providers available.
Try:  Take a look at the cost saving airline catering solutions of Gate Gourmet. They are the service provider of many major airlines including Delta. Purchase a copy of CATERERS OFFICE Suite from IN-FLITE MANAGER for integrated inflight catering procedures and purchases. Buy Airline Galley Equipment from BFE. Their products include beverage drawers, oven inserts, casserole carriers, folding carts, ultra-lightweight carts, trays, carriers trays, liquor kits, carrier cash lock boxes and waste containers.

Consider safety cable airline equipment

Use safety cable airline equipment for flight control applications for safer landings.
Try:  Visit Loos & Co. for airplane safety cables. Use Bergen Cable for your flight control needs. Use American Precision Hydraulics for lanyards and lockwire/safety wire assemblies in aviation applications. Purchase safety lock wire for the aircraft industry from Malin Company.

• Most airline catering equipment is available through Chinese manufacturers. You have to figure in shipping costs, though, as well as the weak American dollar to foreign currency, so purchasing overseas is less likely to save you money and can take weeks to arrive depending on your method of shipping.