bsacks05

bsacks05

Well Known Member
This weekend I flew to Panama City (PFN) for an overnight stay. Upon arrival at PFN I told ground that I wanted to go park at Precision AvJet where I had a rental car reserved. I parked the plane and was immediately set upon by three line personnel. One asked if I wanted fuel and brought the truck, one went to get my car, and the other brought caution cones and tie down ropes and tied down the plane. Maybe they were just really slow at the time or thought I was someone important. :eek:
Fuel was $4.01 SS and $4.27 FS but since their SS pump was inop they gave me the SS price from the truck. Nice.
Anyway, I felt like I should give a tip for outstanding service but didn't because I never heard of tipping line personnel before. Is that done?
There is another FOB across the ramp so that is an incentive to get and keep customers for Precision. I will write a letter to Precision and give them a favorable comment on AirNav but wonder if the line guys felt stiffed out of a tip. :(
 
Last edited:
tipping

Don't know if it's a custom or not, but years ago (many of them) when was a line boy, a couple bucks and a smile got your airplane the royal treatment. To the point of putting it in a main hangar when thunderstorms rolled in so hail wouldn't get it. Also, pulled a guys 210 in the big hangar once just to thaw it out, and melt the ice off it so it wouldn't need expensive de-ice...
More recently, the line guys at my airport called me and let me know a storm was "moving" my airplane (a C-140 tied out) Asked me if I wanted it stuffed in the big hangar till it blew over. I said absolutely! The kid called some of his pals to hold the wings down and then all moved it for me... There was a hundred other airplanes tied down out there, but they were watching mine. ;-)
Good karma? I dunno. To quote Steve Martin from the movie "My Blue Heaven"... "I don't believe in tipping... I believe in OVER tipping... " ;-)

Best,
Dennis
 
Last edited:
If they do something for me (i.e. tie down, pump fuel, etc...) and are pleasant about it, I usually give them a couple bucks. As Dennis mentioned above, it can't hurt to make a good impression on the folks that are watching over your airplane.
 
I landed in ABQ once in very strong and gusty winds in a 172, and before I even got the engine shut down, I had one lineboy on each wingtip physically holding the wingtip to make sure the gusty wind didn't do anything nasty to me as I taxied into the tiedown spot. They were chaining me down as the prop ticked over to stop. They both got a good tip.
 
Tipping pays dividends

especially if you're a regular at some of the airports. Line personnel always remembered us and seemed to take those extra steps already mentioned here. I would fly in my own personal puddle jumper occasionally and the difference in the attention I got was amazing because they remembered me from the other trips. My only problem was in figuring out who, and how many personnel to tip. I resolved that issue by getting them together and asking them to split the tip themselves. :)
Steve
 
My personal favorite when I was a line guy was when one particular jet captain phoned in a pizza order for us ramp rats using the flitephone. Immitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I now do the same thing when I receive really good service.

Remember, for the most part, those kids working the line want to be pilots when they get enough time or money...I always offer to take line guys flying when I can.

Cash is always good too, and a lav pull is always worth $40 bucks to the guy that does it.
 
Yeah, I know when I should heed the little voice in my head that says, "make sure you......" This time I didn't and regret not doing so. There will be a next time. This was my first time there and with only 169nm away from home, RV time is 1.25hrs. Next year in spring maybe...:rolleyes:
 
As a former line boy/ramp rat/starving college student, let me assure everyone that a tip for good service in this area is always appropriate. We who have pumped literal lakes worth of avgas are known for our very good memories of who has treated us right after being given good service. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had even if you had to rely on the leftover catering from the bizjets for your supper sometimes:)
 
Tipping Leaves a Lasting Impression

i remember being tipped a HUGE twenty dollar bill after going above and beyond for two little "old" (so it seemed to me at the time) ladies at PWA in about 1968. i still don't know who they were, but i still do remember they brought in a big old Aero Commander on a rock-solid IFR day. they were only worried about getting their hairdos wet on the way to the hangar, so i dragged their airplane into the hangar and let them dismount from there.
 
tipping

Still time to make good. Order them some pizzas this week for lunch . A delated tip will be remembered .
 
I believe in tipping the people that actually work for a living.

To briefly illustrate, last winter a really nice fellow that I never met before in Columbus, OH helped my instructor and I with a plane that was so snowed up and so cold that the engine would not start. He put it into a heated hanger, tried to start it with an external power unit, and several other things during some really miserable weather but we never could get it started. Anyway, we returned the next day with a heater, some blankets, several other tools, and after some further effort he helped us to finally get that plane started, and my instructor and I got home just fine.

I gave him a $20 bill for his trouble and it was well worth it.
 
I think its customary

When the service warrants it. I think I've gone as high as $20 when someone has gone the extra mile to help, but normally less.

Even when I order the fuel truck at my home airport (KRHV) I give the driver a $5. Its not much, but I think it says I appreciate prompt service even though I have a wee little airplane that sips fuel.

I guess if I got a $5 tip for putting a bajillions gallons of fuel into a jet I would not be impressed. So, I think it should be somewhat proportionate to your airplane size/cost as well.
 
starbucks (note lowercase)

Let's see, the kid is on the ramp to park me, greet me, chock me, fill me, clean me, move me and direct me. Tip HIM! Nah.

But, have some "nice" kid pour me a five dollar cup of coffee with his tip jar sitting right there in my face ??!!
 
Tipping

I usually tip when it's warranted. If I'm directed in and the line guy walks away... nope.

If he helps me tie down, or grabs a bag, and takes me to the FBO... sure thing!

I remember getting tips as a corporate pilot... one guy would consistently lay a hundred bucks on me. That was real nice. He and his sons would also applaud when I landed. I was never sure how to take that ("great job!" or "OMG we're finally on the ground").

Once I was at the airport and some guys showed up to dismantle an old experimental and haul it off. They forgot their tools. I lent them mine, but after a couple of hours, I had to go. I said "Put the tools back in that hangar over there and lock the door when you're done... see ya!"

Next day all my tools were neatly in the hangar on the workbench with a twenty dollar bill underneath. Risky? Yes. Good karma though. Hope someone would do the same for me.
 
tipping

...ummmmmm, what's a line boy?
Okay, I was one once, but we don't really have those around here....a victim of the times I guess.
but that's no reason not to tip or otherwise recognize good service. At our local field, I once had to wait 10 minutes for fuel, because the old gent that runs the fuel service had to de-ice a Dash 7......by himself! by hand! and unload the bags etc. etc.
by the time he came to my plane, I was ready with the ground line, and as he had fuelled me a few times before, he knew it was a little tricky topping up the tanks, and felt bad if he splashed fuel on the wing, so he just handed me the nozzle this time.
Nice to be trusted, the value of my investment appreciated, and some recognition to him is in order.
I think I 'll drop by with a bottle of 'anti-freeze' for him this Christmas!
 
Hi Bruce,
I'm based at PFN and the line guys are all pretty nice guys although not many are kids. Precision AvJet services a lot of King Airs and GA jets and pride themselves on first class service so you received their usual good service.

I personally don't see the need to tip anyone for ordinary services (Just pumping fuel) but as some of you have detailed exceptional services it makes sense to acknowledge that. Many of the line personal at busy GA jet FBOs are men (Not kids.) and are paid a reasonable wage. I can't see me tipping some guy at an FBO for putting 30 gal. of 100LL in my RV under normal circumstances.
Danny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.