Tidier tarmacs add
up to big savings

Employee diligence proves key in reducing FOD damage
Posted January 29, 2004

Employees across the system saved Alaska Airlines more than $600,000 in aircraft repairs in 2003 versus 2002 due to their diligence in picking up all the crud—from pebbles to paper clips, bag tags to bolts—that can be ingested into an aircraft engine.

And get this—the savings would have been double that were it not for just one FOD incident that caused $618,000 in engine repairs.

FOD, short for foreign object debris, is the bane of the Jet Age. And there’s no high-tech solution to it, only the time-tested practice of eagle-eyed employees stooping down to pick it up off the tarmac. 

“It’s purely due to the awareness and efforts of our employees,” said Vice President of Safety Dave Prewitt, noting that Alaska’s FOD costs are down almost 40 percent over the last two years.

Among the ways employees are keeping debris in check:

• A “FOD Busters” contest held at the Seattle station in 2001 netted an entire dumpster full of debris.

• At LAX, a pre-arrival sweep of the ramp for FOD is a key part of procedures.

• In Ketchikan, customer service agents make it their mission to look for FOD five minutes before every arrival and departure.

“FOD awareness is even part of our training,” said Edison Azizi, customer service manager in Ketchikan.

“Picking up FOD is something that employees can do everyday, that doesn’t take a lot of effort, but makes a huge difference,” said Prewitt. “And in 2003 it saved us a lot of money and reduced damage to our equipment which improves our operational performance and customer service.”