Belt loader

Seems like another great ploy by Hans to take Roost Air’s business to another level! Time will tell if that level is going to be higher or lower. Sure looks like Chuck has some ideas already about how to utilize this new tool though.

Talking about loading bags: I want to venture a guess that everybody who flies with the airlines will probably have one or more luggage-related stories. Personally, I only had my luggage delayed a couple of times, and the occasional thing that was broken. Fortunately never had one of my guitars broken, but then I rarely fly United! For those who don’t know what I’m talking about and want to learn about one of the worlds worst public relations disasters, just google “United guitar” and watch the video that comes as the top result. 🙂

Does anybody here have a story he/she feels like sharing?

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8 comments on “Belt loader
  1. Wade Moeller says:

    Why is Julio so upset at getting a self powered maintenance platform? Safer then a ladder and can carry your tools around too!

  2. stef says:

    Maybe he looks at it as one more thing for him to fix? 🙂

  3. JP Kalishek says:

    Long time back I fueled contract for Southwest Airlines. Their Tug belt loaders had all been converted from various gas engines, to Perkins diesels some few years before I started.
    One flight, the relatively new, young “ramp supervisor” -(a fast way to a raise was to go that route. Supes were either young pups, or old grizzled guys)- was working my side the terminal.To be helpful, he had the rear belt (taking a jet wash beating on a hot New Orleans day but then you climbed into the cold belly of the plane) But, when he pulled the belt loader up to the plane, the alternator caught on fire.
    This was the first time I ever saw anyone literally run in circles in a panic.
    He was running his laps between my truck and the plane and I walked over to my truck, removed a fire extinguisher and held it in his line of sight.
    This snapped him out of his panic, and he grabbed the bottle, doused the flames, got a tug to pull the loader away and someone else grabbed another belt loader to get the flight turned around. But not before he made 5 or 6 circles at speed.
    Afterwards he said he couldn’t think of where a fire extinguisher was and I rattled off: “2 on my truck, one on the provisioning truck, a small one on the pushback, and a large wheeled one under the jetway, oh and the mail and cargo tugs have a small one too.”
    he exclaimed, “Wow, how do you know where all them are?”
    “I drive around 5,000 gallons of flammable liquid. I kinda need to know things like that.”

  4. The Oldest Tiger says:

    Plot twist: This is a foreshadowing that Hans is buying a 747.

  5. RCN says:

    Search for “Thank you Republic Airlines” for a Youtube of Tom Paxton on broken guitar necks.

  6. Jan Olieslagers says:

    @JPK: good story, but what exactly is meant by “I fueled contract”? It doesn’t fit anything I learned at school… Excuse my ignorance.

    @RCN: that song is widely available, no need to limit to one channel. Or do they sponsor you?

    @All: it is not that long ago that I publicly made a fool of a reputed musician of early music for letting her historical viola da gamba travel in the cargo hold, with very bad but sadly predictable outcome. It has long been common practice, now, for musicians to book an extra seat for their instrument, and sit it next to them. Should get one a double portion of food and drinks, too…

  7. JP Kalishek says:

    Jan, I worked for two companies that were contracted with SWA to fuel flights. We were not employees of SWA. The second company (who I was working for at the time of the story) had trucks leased by SWA, but we were responsible for maintenance on them. That was sorta a back stop if it went to pot, SWA could fly in some fuelers and hire locals, or work on getting a different contractor (and it did, get bad and I left in 2004, We went from #1 in the system having 60 flights a day turned and no fueling caused delays, to 6 months later being bottom 1/4. Not because I left, but we got bought out and the new management was horrid at managing the airline side of things) I didn’t hear if they did drop the contract. SWA is now on the other side of the Airport from where I worked. They might have gone to hydrant fueling.

  8. Ken Glaze says:

    Back in my days as a “Samsonite Gorilla” I found that belt loaders were very good at stripping off those little three digit locks that people used to lock their baggage at the zipper. The lock would get caught between the end of the belt and the frame. The zipper pull would break off of the zipper, leaving the lock and baggage otherwise undamaged. We would get two or three per month as FOD, particularly after a full flight.

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