The GSE Podcast

Episode 39 – “The New GSE Standard”: Inside JFK T6 with Steve Thody & Jared Verano

• Matt Weitzel • Episode 39

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In this episode of the GSE Podcast, host Matthew Weitzel sits down with Steve Thody (CEO, JFK Millennium Partners) and Jared Verano (CEO, Fortbrand Services) to explore the groundbreaking pooled ground support equipment (GSE) program at the new Terminal 6 at JFK International Airport.

Key Topics:

  • JFK Millennium Partners’ leadership in the $19 billion redevelopment of Terminal 6, with major partners like Vantage Group, American Triple I, RXR Realty, and JetBlue.
  • Introduction of the first large-scale pooled GSE operation in North America—leveraging technology, electrification, and collaboration to transform ramp and maintenance operations.
  • Insights into the pooling concept: shared, high-efficiency, predominantly electric equipment managed through advanced telematics and supported by a carefully designed infrastructure.
  • Collaborative, airline-driven selection process for vendors and ground handlers (Dnata, ASAK, WFS, Airway Cleaners) to promote buy-in and operational excellence.
  • Discussion of operational risks and solutions, including charging infrastructure, backup power, safety, preventative maintenance, and robust training/certification programs for ground handlers.
  • Vision for sustainability and customer experience, with digital signage and transparent operations.
  • Plans to track progress and success by safety, efficiency, and industry impact—establishing JFK’s Terminal 6 as a model for airports globally.

Notable Quotes:

  • “The emphasis is going to be on us to make sure we provide the equipment, get the correct training, and maintain robust certification for ground handlers.” — Steve Thody
  • “This is the first time we’re seeing a trifecta of partnership—airport, airlines, and operators—pushing for innovation together.” — Jared Verano

Listen in to hear how JFK’s Terminal 6 is setting new industry standards for safety, sustainability, and efficiency in ground operations.

Looking for dependable and on demand ground support equipment leasing? Fortbrand is your go to partner. We specialize in tailored operating leases for airlines, cargo carriers, and ground handlers, delivering top tier equipment without the wait. From the latest electric GSE to traditional units, Fortbrand offers flexible terms, competitive rates, and a customer experience that is second to none. Keep your ramp moving with confidence. Visit fortbrand.com and experience GSE leasing redefined.

Matthew Weitzel:

This episode of the GSE podcast is brought to you by Fortbrand, not your everyday GSE provider. We go beyond belt loaders and bag tractors offering tow barless pushbacks, deicers and airport maintenance equipment, all available on demand across North America and the UK, whether you need electric units to support your ESG goals or traditional equipment for today's ramp, Fortbrand delivers flexible leasing with the option of full service maintenance to keep your fleet at peak performance. When you partner with Fortbrand, you get more than equipment. You get expertise reliability and a commitment to keeping your operation running smoothly. Visit fortbrand.com to learn more.

Unknown:

This is Patrick Dennison. This is Jake Klein. This is Daniel Burtis. My name is Dean swabish, and you're listening to the GSE podcast.

Matthew Weitzel:

All right. Well, welcome to the GSE Podcast. I'm here today with Steve thody and Jared verano. Steve is the CEO at JFK Millennium partners, and Jared is the CEO of Fortbrand Services. Thanks for coming on the podcast. You all

Steve Thody:

thanks for the invite. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel:

appreciate it. Yeah. This is jared's first time on the podcast. Now I am a member of his team, so welcome Jared. Glad to have you on Steve. Why don't you tell our listeners about JMP? Sure.

Steve Thody:

So JFK Millennium Partners is a consortium that was put together as part of a bid to do the one of the terminal redevelopments at JFK. So we're responsible for developing the new terminal six as part of the JFK $19 billion redevelopment that was envisioned by Governor Cuomo back in 2017 so as part of the selected consortium, majority led by Vantage group. So I work as part of Vantage group. We provide all the manpower into JFK Millennium partners. But our other key partners include American triple I, RXR Realty and JetBlue. So that consortium is responsible today for running terminal seven, and in the future, we'll be operating terminal six once we finish construction.

Matthew Weitzel:

Okay, awesome. And then how did you how did you get your start? Like, how did you end up at?

Steve Thody:

JMP, so my career is 25 years in aviation. Most of that. The start of it couple of years in FedEx, so a little bit of cargo experience. Majority of it were British Airways, so lots of airline experience, predominantly a finance background. Last couple of years, I switched path and went into Terminal management for British Airways as part of JFK, and I actually met Vantage group as we were negotiating across the table on how do we hand over t7 to Vantage group as part of the redevelopment of terminal six. Little did I know that a couple of years later, I would actually be working for Vantage group coming back to terminal seven to tear the building down as part of building terminal six. So yeah, joined Vantage group in 2019 went to the brand new LaGuardia Terminal B, which was another vantage led project, had a couple of years there, and then I moved to terminal six project, and started in 2022 as we did financial close, the consortium came alive. The whole project kicked off with construction, and a month later we took over terminal

Matthew Weitzel:

seven. Wow, that's an incredible story. It's come full circle for you.

Steve Thody:

Very strange, to leave an office in the terminal to then move back in two years later to exactly the same office in the same corner with the same windows. But yeah, full circle. Moment my career, I moved to New York from London 2003 with British Airways. So I've been connected to JFK, connected to terminal seven, the whole British Airways operation now through to Vantage for 22 years. So it'll be interesting to see this building come down and the next legacy and that we put in place. There's not many times in your lifetime you get a chance to be part of key infrastructure in in an airport as worldly as JFK is. So it's an exciting, exciting time for for me personally, and for the whole team that that's delivering this project.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, that's incredible that you get to come in here and leave your legacy after working in this terminal for so long, and that that's an amazing story. So thanks for sharing that with us. So Jared, you're with Fortbrand, and can you kind of tell the listeners a little bit about about Fortbrand, and then, kind of how we we Fortbrand got involved in this project. Sure,

Jared Verano:

Fortbrand was started in 1983 by a gentleman named Henry Foster, basically to provide. Provide GSE equipment to ground support equipment to the New York airports. So he ran and operated the company from from 1983 to 2019 at that point, it was acquired by a private equity group I had come in with with that group as the CFO. We at that point, decided to change the strategy a bit, focus on long term leasing, building a fleet of equipment, providing ancillary services, and ultimately becoming a fleet manager. Focused on two divisions of of aviation support equipment, GSE and and airport maintenance equipment. So always in aviation, the company is focused solely on that space, investing heavily in our fleet, our infrastructure, our team making acquisitions and growing our footprint through opening shops at various airports in North America and in the UK. So Fortbrand was, you know, we're a local, local to the New York market, and we were informed of the the opportunity here with the pooling operation. And so, you know, we're happy to be part of this and participate and help to provide, really, the first project of this type in in North America. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel:

and this pooling is going to be something else. This is going to be the first time that it's happened within the United States. Is that, right?

Steve Thody:

That's what we believe. Yeah, we haven't seen it anywhere else. So, yeah, it's a concept, at least from our team's perspective, the pooling concept has been around for a long, long time as an idea delivered sometime in Europe. I don't know exactly when Europe first introduced it in some of the airports. We've been trying to crack that, but struggled with the technology that really supports how does the mechanism of billing and accountability work. So yeah, I think back in December 2022 shortly after taking on this building, we got together a team said, like, how do we change how we're going to manage this ramp? How do we increase safety? How do we increase accountability, but in a way that doesn't drive significant cost increases for the airlines. So that was the task that was laid out for the team. And then through various conversations with different partners, the pooling concept started to come together challenges around, how do we make that work? And I think the partnership that we've gone through with Fortbrand in trying to understand, how do we actually successfully achieve a pooling operation that works for everybody? We've come up with a with a really good solution, and we're leveraging technology and the electrification of the equipment is a bonus around sustainability for our goal is all electric on the apron by 2030 we should achieve most of that in the early stages, because it's all brand new equipment. But yeah, I think the outcome of this is going to be really good and a good statement, and a place that other airports can come to visit and showcase. You know what can be done if you have the opportunity to really think outside the box and work with creative partners.

Matthew Weitzel:

So the advancements in technology, namely in telematics, is what made pooling more than just a concept. When

Steve Thody:

I was working as part of British Airways, we talked about pooling concepts in airports, the challenge was always what happens if there's a if someone damages it? What happens if they take it off site and it disappears. What if you want to use it for your operation and your belt load or your tug's not available because someone else is keeping it. So how do we mitigate those challenges? And the team through various working sessions and ideation really leant towards? Well, let's have a set for each gate, so we'd have to worry about equipment disappearing. Let's go with electrification. We are building a brand new infrastructure. We have the ability right now to lean into charging and making sure that there's the right charging at the right locations. And then how does technology help us to manage who's using the equipment, who pays for it, based on their utilization and drive efficiency through the pooled equipment at the gate and all the airlines using it to try and bring the cost down.

Jared Verano:

For sure, there's a few key components to a pooling operation. I mean, number one, you have to have a great sponsor. You have to have someone that's operating a terminal that's committed to it, which Steve and his team are. You have to have the local a local presence. You know, to operate a pool of equipment, you need maintenance facilities. You need staff. You need to be able to be here and, you know, take care of the pool. Technology is a key part of it. ADVIS, as you mentioned, is is a telemetry provider that four brands use for probably four years. They're continuing to evolve and develop what that technology can deliver, and they've made some customizations for this operation that we're really excited about. So the pooling operation, it's not driven by the telemetry, but it's really supported by it. And the three main factors, I guess, that it would it would deliver, would be, you know, safety. There's a lot of features in. There that will help control the equipment, will provide reports on the usage, will help all stakeholders understand and what we're doing right and what we're not doing right. Maintenance. You know, the the software has evolved again, to the point where you know we're talking about all electric equipment. So you know, not only battery life, but prompting for standard preventive maintenance requirements. So whether it's a six month service, whether it's a number of hours, you know, the telemetry helps us understand all that. And then the last one is operational efficiency, and this is one that I think we're really excited about. It will give a view to all involved. So the JMP team, the the ground handlers, the airlines, our team, will understand where the equipment's at, we'll understand who operated it last. We'll understand all the ways that it was used over a period of time, and we'll be able to run reports and some KPIs on this that will ultimately help us improve the business, improve passenger experience through better turn times and all that.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, and I imagine that was all part of the bid process. And Steve, what did that bid process look like? How long did that take and but it was quite arduous.

Steve Thody:

It feels like a long time, okay, but we spent a lot of time trying to prep the RFP to make sure we were clear about how we wanted this to work, because it's not something that was already in place. We needed to make sure that we were describing it correctly, that the bidders, like Fortbrand knew what they were bidding on. Otherwise you just don't get consistent feedback. The other key element that we wanted to do, and this is a JMP element that we brought in from day one for t7 as well as for t6 these types of services are really funded by the airlines. The airlines are ultimately paying to use the equipment to turn their aircraft, and so they're a key stakeholder. And we didn't feel it was right on JMP just to unilaterally make the decision on who's going to come in and what the service was going to be and what the price was going to be. So we wanted to make that collaborative process. So we have, we've got a couple of long term partner airlines in Lufthansa Group and Cathay Pacific and now Avianca is another one. Those airlines would get a seat at the table and participated in this selection process. They got a chance to question all of the vendors, to ask everybody, including Jared and the team, how are you going to do this? What's your previous experience? Who's the team you're going to use on the ground? Where's your maintenance shop? How far away is it? And really dive into how is this going to work? The airlines were a little skeptical. They were really not 100% on board with this whole pooling idea, and thought maybe we should just stick to the traditional GSE model. The issue is airports terminals like t7 today, the one that we're sitting in doing this podcast, and the future t6 you get constrained ramps and those apron areas, if you start loading too much equipment creates a safety issue. So we really wanted to lean into this from a safety perspective, and the equipment, as Jared was mentioning, some of the technology and the equipment that stops before you touch the aircraft, all of those elements are becoming very, very attractive for us to make sure we don't have aircraft on the ground with damage and delays, but for the airlines themselves. So having them in the room, having them part of the process was a key part of the RFP. It probably slowed it down a little bit because we wanted to make sure that all stakeholders had the chance to ask questions, get answers, talk about it internally, but extremely happy with the output. Everybody is on board. Everybody is now behind this pooling concept. And our experience is, if you want to be successful in a venture like this, you need everybody behind you, because we've got to push in the same direction.

Matthew Weitzel:

Oh yeah, for sure. I completely agree with that. So is my understanding is, is that the majority of the equipment will be electric. Is a day one. But then there's going to be some kind of phases, right, where we kind of not everything is going to be electric. Day one is that. Is that correct?

Jared Verano:

The large majority, I think we're at 95% of it is electric day one. And the the only pieces that are not are going to be units that aren't commercially available in an electric model, such as air conditioners, ground power units, some of the things needed to service remote operations, but otherwise it's all electric. So everything that's happening at the gates will be all electric.

Matthew Weitzel:

Okay? And then Steve, how did they work out the charging infrastructure? Like was that? Was that a huge task?

Steve Thody:

It was actually built in to the programming from day one. I think one of the challenges that we realized in talking to for brand was charging isn't just charging like there are some options out there, so making sure that what we select from the units that we want to have and the charging capability and what we're going to install on site. Had to make sure that those two elements of the infrastructure were going to were going to be compatible. We got it's going to be the right setup. So I believe that the team had already selected somebody, and it happened to work out to be the right type of charging mechanism. But yeah, the benefit, the beauty of a brownfield site and coming in and building new infrastructure is you get to design that you're not retrospectively trying to find the right space to shoehorn in some charging and marking out grids. I wouldn't say that phase one doesn't have its challenges with space constraints, because the terminal was actually built in two phases. So the first five gates are going to open in the first half of 2026 we're going to add another gate in the summer of 2026 and then the remaining gates come on in the first half of 2028 so while we still deal with construction, there are some space constraints, and we'll work around but that's where the flexibility between conventional and electric GSE, and being able to flex between those helps us to

Matthew Weitzel:

bridge that gap. Okay, so terminal seven is eventually going to be,

Steve Thody:

yeah, we do a big bang overnight. So we are going to have to work with all the TSA, CBP Port Authority on At what time do we shut the doors of t7 and open the doors of t6 and it all happens overnight. Oh, wow. We don't have another option. The TSA and CBP do not have unlimited resources. We work with them every day on maximizing everybody they have available. So they can't run two facilities. So we need to make sure that we we time that correctly on the overnight shift and transition people effectively, some tightrope walking there. We have a very large and experienced team that is working diligently on, how do we get ourselves operationally ready, do all the right testing, and then build a very robust transition plan with contingencies all over the place? Wow, sounds like a lot of work.

Matthew Weitzel:

So we talked a little bit about electrification, and how, you know, 95% of the fleet is going to be electrified. Tell me about when there's any issues with power, or, you know, with the grid, or anything like that. Do we are we foreseeing any of that? Or how do we have, do we have contingencies in place?

Jared Verano:

We're hoping everything goes perfect, exactly. Of course, there's contingencies that, you know, with any with any startup operation, there's, you know, there's a need to plan for unforeseen circumstances. And so, you know, as part of what we've included in the pool is, is portable charging infrastructure. And so in the event that we have a grid issue, or whether it's a surge or, you know, challenges with it, or it's a result of the construction phasing in of charging stations, we have some portable units called an amp cart, which is built into the into the pool, and we'll be able to provide charging for the majority of the fleet, that's in the event of an issue. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel:

yeah, the am karts a great solution. Mobile power for for listeners who don't know what that is, so we'll still be able to to operate all that electric equipment without an issue. That's fantastic. So what operational risks do we see otherwise? Anything else

Jared Verano:

again, with with with a startup, and with a phased in opening, there's always going to be some challenges with space. I think some of the you know, some of the space that we'll have in the beginning will be kind of reclaimed and moved and expanded throughout the project. So there's just constant communication. And Steve brought up the collaboration as a key factor in their approach. And we've seen that too, from from day one, and it's really important that we're, we're in the loop and communicating on, you know, things as simple as where we can stage equipment, where we can store spares, you know, but all this stuff is being talked about and worked out. And so as far as risk from from our perspective, charging is one that we feel like we have a solution for storage and where the equipment is going to be staged. We're working through the final, the final positions for that, and then just the standard, how can we ensure that the equipment is functioning properly and the employees are, you know, performing the task that they need to. And that's, that's stuff that we will be, again, rolling out and bringing everybody up to speed over the next few months, so we'll be in position and ready to start this operation well before it's due to start. We'll test out all the software. We'll make sure all the equipment is functioning properly. And so we like to think that we have, you know, that we're ahead of any potential risks things will come up, but those are the measures we've taken to date.

Matthew Weitzel:

And then, Steve, can you kind of tell me a little bit about how the ground handlers play a role in this whole thing, and then how the ground handlers were selected? Yeah,

Steve Thody:

so similar to the RFP process for selection of the GSE equipment, airlines largely got to go through an RFP process of their own. The airline selected a. Four ground handlers that they were then shortlisted to say, okay, these are the four that will get operating permits, because they're the ones they want to work with, and then they can conduct their own RFP to drive the right balance of price performance, service levels, etc. So fairly standard ground handling selection process, other than we've restricted it to four from a just a space constraint and how many we can actually handle in the building. But all of it's selected by airlines because, again, ultimately they pay for it. What we did as part of the process is ensure that the ground handlers were given a copy of the standard use agreement for the GSE pooled equipment. So again, this is the slight difference now because they don't control their own equipment, but by creating a standardized agreement, standardized pricing, it means that they're all on a level playing field as they bid for business, so the ground handlers and the airlines understand exactly what the rules of engagement are at t6 just going back to the previous question, one of the things that's probably on our risk register as a key topic on the GSE pooling is actually around training. So how do we make sure that these ground handlers get the right training on the equipment, are certified on the equipment, that their badges are working on the equipment, so there's a lot of pre work to get us ready for opening day. And then how do we go through that testing process and have them utilize that the equipment once it's on site and get familiar with it? We clearly don't want to do that on day one of operations. So working with the ground handlers, working with Fortbrand to make sure that we have a testing area. We have sample equipment on site. It's linked into the systems that's going to control, system access, cider, ID badges, all of those things are on our or at planning schedule. So we'll be working with Fortbrand closely on making sure that we set that up and we set ourselves up for success.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, for sure. Yes. We all, we all hope for success. So who are the ground handlers that were chosen?

Steve Thody:

Donata, ASAC, WFS, airway, airway,

Matthew Weitzel:

okay, so kind of tell me a little bit about I know we've been talking about pooling almost this entire time, but let's kind of get into the nitty gritty of how this really actually works, right? So Jared, do you kind of want to explain exactly, like, how a pooling operation works and in what it allows, what allows it to work? I know we've kind of gone into, like, different segments, but I don't feel like we've kind of put the whole picture together. So do you think you could do that for us? Sure.

Jared Verano:

Yeah, it's, it's simply just a common use fleet of equipment that that all handlers at the airport will use what the terminal will use. And so the way that it will work mechanically is there's certain equipment that will be assigned, you know, at each gate, and then there's certain equipment that will be shared and utilized by all and so what Fortbrand's role in that is to, number one, provide the equipment to maintain the equipment. So we're, you know, we're establishing a standard here that, you know is going to be best in class, so that that will go across all areas of of the terminal. But from the equipment side, you know, that means it's in good condition. That means it looks the right way. That means it's staged in the right place, and that means that ultimately it works when it's necessary. And so that's our responsibility, the ground handlers, to Steve's point earlier, you know, we'll come in and we'll use the equipment to provide the service to the airlines. And so the difference, ultimately, is that, you know, there's one owner of all the equipment at this terminal, one person responsible for the fleet, for the performance of the equipment, and that's really how it was designed. And that's, that's kind of the the difference between a normal setup is each ground handler would bring their own equipment. So with that model comes additional units that you perhaps don't need. It comes with idle equipment that needs to be parked more frequently than necessary. And so the pooled equipment, we will increase the utilization of every unit, and we'll have it in, you know, in the right place at the right time

Matthew Weitzel:

when there's shared equipment for gates. I'm guessing that we're using telematics to talk about the flight schedules and things like that, so that way we know where the equipment is supposed to be, when is that? Is that true?

Jared Verano:

Absolutely, yeah, the flight schedule and the and the telematics software integration is going to be pretty important. You know, obviously that's that could change up until the last minute, as we know, but, but that will be a very important piece to ensuring that the equipment is where it's supposed to be, an allocated to the right people.

Matthew Weitzel:

So what if there's a unit down situation? What does that look like? Do we have backup equipment that we can send in to help out?

Jared Verano:

Yeah, absolutely. When, when we when we designed the pool and determined what was necessary. We kind of looked at the absolute peak operational period, and an outfit of the pool with that equipment, plus, you know, around a 10% factor of spares, so we'll always have additional equipment available. And you know, the other, the other good part is, through the experience, through the telemetry software, we'll understand the usage and the needs. And so if we need to add something else, or we need to. Bring something different to the operation, we

Matthew Weitzel:

will and then what about preventative maintenance? Are we? Are we using ADVIS to kind of tell us when, when things you know, when equipment will need to be maintained, or we just going off, just like a basic schedule that's given to us by the manufacturer? Like, how does that work? It's

Jared Verano:

kind of a combination of both, you know, they'll be, it'll all be housed in advs, but there's also a human element to it. So there will be prompts for the OEMs recommended services. There will be prompts for any issues with equipment. There will be reporting mechanisms for all the use of the equipment. If they notice something, feel something, hear something, see something, they'll be able to, you know, report that to us, we've, we've engaged ASAC solutions to to handle some of the maintenance services for us, and to be on boots on the ground, providing that, you know, that service and that support. And so, you know, it'll, it'll be a, again, a combination of of the different, there'll be a combination of, yeah, the OEM specific requirements and the telemetry prompts.

Matthew Weitzel:

Gotcha, yeah. So when thinking about the fact that we have all this electric equipment, is there any worry that there's going to be charging issues, as far as, like, is there going to be enough chargers? I know we kind of like, you know, we kind of touched on that a little bit, but I think that it's worth just making sure that everybody understands it. I think we are going to have enough. But, I mean, what's gone into that to make it to ensure that?

Steve Thody:

So I would say that we have enough charges. We probably would like a few more, but as we build phase two, a lot more of the charging capability comes online. So this becomes a phase one sort of space challenge around how many charges can you fit in and around the terminal? That's where having the mobile charging capability as a backup plan if you lose power, but also as a backup plan if we're heavily utilizing the equipment, and we need to, you know, quickly charge stuff. And there's, there's no charging capability remaining. Having that as a secondary solution just gives us a much more robust operation, a lot more resilience. So, yeah,

Matthew Weitzel:

the M Card is going to be really pivotal in this.

Steve Thody:

It's going to be pivotal, you know that there's always the there's a lot of aircraft movements. Some airlines do maintenance on remote stands. They want to have access to have power and be able to move other equipment around. So just having these options and creating that stability so that we know that we've got what we need, plus the 10% on the equipment, but the power side as well. And then, from a you know, most of the power be connected to the building. The building's brand new, redundancy, several redundancy backup elements to the building, even as it connects to Con Ed, as the power distribution for New York City. So we're very comfortable that we'll have the power where we've got charging the MCAT McCart just allows us that extra, extra level of security.

Matthew Weitzel:

So I'm sure you talk to airlines all the time. How are they feeling? Are they feeling good about day one? Are they excited? What is their general sentiment?

Steve Thody:

So if I was talking just about this part of it, there's a little apprehension around, how is this all going to work, and how are the ground handlers all going to be fully trained? And they're sort of still, they're behind us. They're fully on board with it, but there's still this apprehension, because it's something new, right?

Matthew Weitzel:

People don't like change.

Steve Thody:

People don't like change. Lots of people are risk adverse, especially in aviation, especially when it comes to ground handling. You know, aircrafts are pretty expensive, so if you start damaging them, the insurance bill goes up quite a lot. So people get apprehensive. They're very risk adverse. Our view is this solution actually creates additional layers of safety and helps to reduce risk in the operation. But it's gonna the emphasis is gonna be on us to make sure that we provide the equipment, which is all in hand with Fortbrand, fully, fully behind Fortbrand, with this that we then get the correct training for the individuals from the ground handlers, ground handlers notorious for high turnover of staff. So how do we keep that robust training program going? And how do we keep certifying people to ensure that you know who's using the equipment is fully trained to do so, and we don't run out of people that are trained to use that piece of equipment.

Matthew Weitzel:

I mean, from my perspective, you're getting brand new equipment with the latest technology. You're getting ground handlers that, I mean, those are all fantastic ground handlers that you just mentioned, that are involved in this project. And then you're getting telematics, which makes it so you know where all that piece of equipment is. You know how much it's been charged. And. On top of that, you can make it, which I'm sure this is what we're doing, is access control, right? So if you don't, if you haven't been trained, and you're not trained on that pushback, you're not allowed to operate that pushback, because it's not going to allow you to even start the vehicle. So from my perspective, it sounds like we're going above and beyond even any kind of operation that is going today. So it seemed to me that I'd feel super comfortable with what we're what we're doing here.

Steve Thody:

That's how we feel about it. I'm fully aligned with you on that one. Okay, yeah, access control tied to your airport ID. So you have to be valid to work at the airport, or you immediately lose control. You have to be trained on the equipment, or your ID is not going to work. Nobody is lending their ID to somebody else, because if you get caught without your ID on the apron, you're in a lot of trouble. You're going back to a four to eight hour training class so that there's there's a lot of bells and whistles in place to help mitigate that, but just the brand new equipment and the extra levels, cameras inside, outside the cab speed restrictions. Speeding on the apron is a notorious issue for conventional GSE, where there, where there aren't restrictions in place, all of these elements are just going to help create a safe environment for everybody that works outside.

Matthew Weitzel:

I mean, yeah, it's going to be the safest ramp in the US. I mean, that is an

Steve Thody:

internal goal, yeah, safety levels that we've not seen before, that that's one of our targets within t6 you know this, this is one of our key, key plans on trying to achieve that.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, it's, it's amazing that, that we're going to have this much electric, brand new electric equipment in one place. People are going to want to come and see this. I mean, you're going to have to, you have a lot of GSE people come to see your operation, I think,

Steve Thody:

which will be, which we've good. It's not usually people come for the guest experience. They come for the artwork. They come for the check in equipment. Not many people come for the GSE equipment. So this

Matthew Weitzel:

they should be but, but they're not so. So speaking of those people, so will the customers know like when they land at the brand new terminal six. Is there any way that they'll know what's going on down there on the ground? They don't usually look out their airplane window when they land and look at the equipment like I do, but is there any way that they'll be able to tell that all this is electric equipment? Like, what are we doing to let the passengers know?

Steve Thody:

So we're doing a lot of promotion online around sustainability. This is a one of the key pillars of our sustainability program for terminal six. So we will talk about it on a day to day. Customers only really know there's a problem when there's a problem other than that, they expect it to work fine. What we believe internally is customers really enjoy sitting by the window, and at some point we'll go on a tour of t6 and you'll see there's windows everywhere you can see the ramp from all different angles. So having really clean, well maintained, branded equipment, staff out on the ramp that are in clean, neat uniforms that all look coherent, clean, efficient operation. Customers are going to see that, and they're going to feel more comfortable about their journey. They're going to see what's going on on the apron. So, you know, it's just another part of the t6 experience is, how do we create this environment of calm, relaxed? Allow people to see what's going on. There's no surprises. Keep people informed along their journey, but, you know, allow them to see what's going on on the ramp as well. Yeah,

Matthew Weitzel:

we got to have, like, we got to figure out a way to put pictures of GSE, you know, as they're walking down the hallways. Really get them involved. You know.

Steve Thody:

Well, all of our signage is going digital. So, okay, oh,

Unknown:

GSE, oh, so, so it will be digitals inside, huh? There's, there's

Steve Thody:

a lot of do digital signage. Oh, that's amazing. We've got some really grand digital signage that's gonna, I don't wanna talk too much about it, okay, no, that's fine. Let's just say customers will see it. For sure, it'll be

Matthew Weitzel:

noticeable. Well, it sounds very exciting to me, not only because I'm part of four brand, but just I can't wait to land at Terminal six and be able to look down the ground, like you said. I mean, there's no place in the US where you can land and see all brand new GSE. I mean, not only not all electric obviously, but like, brand new electric equipment, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really something. It's something that everybody should be really proud of. And I can't wait to, can't wait to see it. I got to be here on day one. I think so. Are we going to be using any high voltage charging, or is it all going to be 80 volt?

Jared Verano:

I think it's all 80 volt. Okay to start, you know, as the, you know, as the construction evolves and the terminal needs might change. That could that could be different?

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And then I'm guessing we're using lithium batteries in this stuff, not lead acid. No, all lithium. That's amazing. Okay, cool, awesome. So, Steve, how will you define success for the operation one year in and in a full build out?

Steve Thody:

I. Mean, we got to lean on key statistics. You know, are there any delays due to ground service equipment? We're going to look at the the entire terminal as we look at delays in general, make sure that they're not tied to the building or facility jet bridges. But you know, ground service equipment is part of that. How are ground handlers respecting the equipment. How are they utilizing it? What's the information telling us? The other key thing is, how good are all the partners that are part of this ecosystem to make sure it works? Our view is as JMP, it's not just one company that can drive everything. It's everybody that's part of that ecosystem that makes it successful. So does Fortbrand make sure that the equipment is maintained, that it's available when it needs to be, that it looks clean and tidy. ASAC doing their job, they work in t7 today. They're an awesome vendor in t7 most ground handlers that use them have decided to stay with them, simply because of the service they produce and the quality. But then how do all these ground handlers, when we give them feedback on individual users that maybe aren't using the equipment correctly, how do they respond to that? How do they do a retraining? How do they ensure that they start to start day one with a with a much firmer grip of what's expected in a brand new facility with brand new equipment, because the the pooling GSE from from our perspective, is the one risk is it's not owned by the ground handler. Therefore, do they treat it as if it's their own equipment, or do they treat it like it's someone else's and they like a rental car, and we need them to treat it like it's their own equipment. And if they do that, and everybody does it, we're going to be in a really good place. But yeah, year on, we're gonna, we're gonna really be able to see how, how is that ecosystem working? How are partners coming together? How good is the operation, punctuality, safety records, so we'll be tracking all of that. Okay, so when does phase two start? Phase two starts immediately after so we will empty this building, we will demo t6 t7 and then we will start the foundation and construction of t6 phase two.

Matthew Weitzel:

Okay, so t7 will now become t6

Steve Thody:

it will become t6 Yeah, where we're sitting today will be part of the new t6 infrastructure in the end.

Matthew Weitzel:

Okay, guess I didn't realize that. Sorry, yeah, there we go. Yeah.

Steve Thody:

T7 we build first phase between seven and five on a brownfield site where the old t6 years ago used to be. And then once we move over, we do the overnight switch. We then empty t7 hand the building over, demo crew comes in, takes down t7 and then we start all the foundation work and construction of the second part of t6 Okay, all right. Jared, you looking forward

Jared Verano:

to this? I'm pumped. Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's great. And as Steve said, it will be. It's a project that goes on for a number of years, but we're, we're looking forward to getting started and to working through some of these, these unknowns, you know, and really proving this model to the market.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, yeah, I agree. And it's, I think it's going to be pretty easy to see that this is going to be the, the way to go. Have you already been getting fielding calls from other airports and things like that, asking you about this project, and maybe we might see this kind of go into other places within the US.

Steve Thody:

There's a few key contacts I've got in other airports that have reached out and sort of inquired and challenged on some of the the pressure points that Pauline has seen before, that we talked about earlier on. What happens if someone damages it? Who owns that? Who pays for it? What if someone doesn't plug it in at the end, when they finish using it, and the next person goes and there's no juice left in it and they can't use the equipment? How are you dealing with those? These are all questions that we've already been bouncing around and making sure that we've got plans for. And you know, again, this comes back to we can now track it. We know who used it, we know who didn't charge it. All of these things will allow us to create more stringent rules and guidelines on utilization for everyone that's that's involved in this ecosystem. But, yeah, I think other airports are going to come and see what we're doing, they're going to want to see, like the airlines, that this is successful. How is it working? What pain points have you found that you didn't expect? How have you got through those? But I do see this as the amalgamation of technology with a desire to drive efficiency is creating this as the opportune way to now look at future terminals.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really interesting, because I don't, I don't know of anybody utilizing telematics like we're gonna be able to utilize telematics on such a grand scale. And I think it's gonna be, you know, at least I've been talking about telematics for years on my pod. Cast, and people talk about it and that, you know, there's small implementations here and there, but there's not this an entire terminal worth of equipment that's going to be tracked. So I can't wait to see how that looks. And you know, when these airlines start talking, and the ground handlers start talking how, like, just telematics, is going to spread throughout our kind of, like, aviation ecosystem. So it's going to be super interesting to me. Also electric equipment, just seeing how that's going to, you know, I mean, we've talked about going electric since I started. I remember I started this industry in 2008 and we've been talking about electrification ever since then, right? It's never happened. It's, you know, small scale, right? But, but we're going large scale now, and we're going to prove it out here at t6 and I can't wait to see it, so just glad to be a part of it. All right. Well, what else I've not asked Is there anything else that we want to get out there to the listeners? You covered it all.

Jared Verano:

Matt, from my perspective, great job.

Steve Thody:

Yeah, no, I from a from a GSE perspective, we've covered a lot. We've talked a bit about the terminal. We've talked about the timing. In general, we've got more than just the couple of airlines I mentioned earlier that join in t6 so all of those airlines are getting on board with the poor GSE concept. What we're finding is actually people are looking at t6 and saying, okay, we can do things differently. What else could we do differently? How else could we change this part of the process? So I think just opening the door for that conversation, to think outside the box and to put a foot forward and be a little creative and work through problems in a collaborative manner is actually opening up other avenues and sparking different conversations. So yes, this is a way to look at ground handling and and poor GSE for the future. But it's not just stopping there. It's rippling through other parts of of the airport experience. And I think the airlines are going to are going to be excited by the outcome of this, and I think we're going to find this becomes the new standard?

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, airlines are going to start pushing airports in this direction. Yeah, I think it will. I think it will go that way. As I

Steve Thody:

mentioned earlier, I was listening to one of your podcasts that had airlines, ground handlers, equipment manufacturers, and one of my takeaways was, everybody talks about electrification, but everyone's looking for someone else to solve the problems. How can the airport do it? The airport wants the government to do it and to provide subsidies, and the airlines aren't quite sure of the ground handlers, but the ground handlers want to own their equipment. So I feel like this is the first time where we've got this trifecta of partnership between the groups at t6 and let me be clear, like one of the things we did in the selection process was choose somebody that we think is a true partner, like who is when things aren't quite working right, you want to make sure that you've got a partner that you can talk to to work through the problem and not just lean straight into the contractual language. So, you know, Fortbrand came forward, and we see them as a true partner with us as JMP, the airlines feel the same. So we feel like we can push through challenges that come up and be successful.

Matthew Weitzel:

Yeah, and what I want to do is maybe August, September timeframe, come back, and we need to sit down, and we can, we can sit down maybe a different room, but, but anyway, at this terminal again and talk about those struggles and see what they were. You know what I mean, like the things that we don't know now, and then inform the industry about how we overcame those when we're pushing forward and and I can't wait to have that conversation with you, so I gotta, I gotta put another podcast on the schedule, and have you guys back to kind of see how this whole thing ended up working out. I have a feeling that it's gonna, it's gonna go fantastic, mainly because I have blind trust in Jared, which I don't know if I should have, but, so anyways, but, but thank you all so much for coming on the podcast today and talking to me about Fortbrand and JFK t6

Jared Verano:

Thank you very much. All right, thanks. Matt, thanks. Steve, thank you.

Matthew Weitzel:

Thanks, guys, thanks. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the GSE podcast. We hope you found it informative and engaging. If this episode resonated with you. Please share it with your colleagues and peers in the ground support equipment community. Your support is invaluable to us. We'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review our podcast. Your feedback not only encourages us, but also helps expand our reach within the GSE community. Keep an eye out for more episodes as we continue to explore the dynamic world of ground operations bring you the latest trends, insights and stories from the industry. Thank you for listening to the GSE podcast until we meet again. Stay grounded and keep pushing forward. You. You.

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Matt Weitzel

Host
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Jared Verano

Guest
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Steve Thody

Guest