may2022 - 19

technician for Miami Aviation Corporation.
During a change with Miami
Aviation Corporation ownership, Gibson
took the opportunity to work for the new
management at Landmark Aviation,
which transferred him to F45 North Palm
Beach County General Aviation Airport.
" After five years in Miami, I moved to
work for Sheltair at FLL as their traveling
supervisor, where I was in charge of the
teams at all Florida locations. I gained
profound experience in line service and
can tow aircraft ranging from a Cessna
152 to a Boeing 747, " Gibson says.
He joined Banyan Air Service in 2007
and continued to grow his career through
a multitude of training courses. Gibson
completed the NATA Safety 1st Line Service
Training and Supervisor Training
courses; the Avfuel Professional Fuel
Handling Training Course; and the American
Safety Council Class A/B Operator
Storage Tank Training Course.
" I completed the Foster Learning Leadership
course and it focused on how to
engage in difficult conversation topics,
best managerial leadership practices,
how to properly delegate and really hone
in on my decision-making, team building
and planning skills, " Gibson says.
He earned the Aviation Maintenance
Never Events Certification and received
the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport
Recognition Award. Gibson also completed
the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry
Outreach Training Program and AEA
Safety Management Systems Employee
Initial Training.
Gibson says he strives to keep his management
style straightforward and to the
point, which helps him manage a variety
of personalities and adapt to each person
as needed. He maintains an open-door
policy. But while approachable, he prefers
not to " sugarcoat " his communications
because safety is the top priority for his
team and customers.
" With frequent and ongoing changes in
policies and procedures at Banyan and on
a national level, it is challenging to keep
the whole team updated, " Gibson says.
Drafting a new training manual with
a complete ERP helped him develop communications
skills, he says.
Because Gibson manages five
on-the-job trainers, he has to ensure that
communication is flowing through those
team members to other personnel in the
line service department.
" I try to meet with them, usually, on a
daily basis. We go over what they train,
and then we can go back and forth on
new industry practices that we have, "
Gibson says.
" Usually at 2 p.m., we have a line service
huddle. We talk about the hot topics
we have for today, " he continues. " Every
other week, I have a one-on-one with
that trainer. Then every month I have an
on-the-job trainers sessions with those
five individuals. "
Gibson relies on his trainers to
help onboarding new hires but is also
closely involved in bringing a new
person on staff.
" When we receive a new hire, they will
spend one week with me going through
training modules, a tour of the entire
company, a ride-along to familiarize
themselves with proper procedure and
then they are sent to the trainer to learn
about frontline protocol - avgas and jet
fueling, towing and safety precautions, "
Gibson explains. " After the new hire completes
the entire training process, they
are sent back to me to sign off on each
action item they were trained on. "
To further ensure his entire team
conducts operations safely, Gibson hosts
annual towing classes and aircraft marshalling
sessions to refresh his teammates'
proficiency and knowledge.
In addition to his safety-related work,
Gibson works alongside line service
manager Ryan Bartman, to oversee
the department.
" On a daily basis, me and Ryan are in
charge of all our admin stuff, " Gibson
says. " We work side-by-side when it
comes to that. "
Creating Policy
A routine day begins with analyzing
the SMS. Gibson checks for any pending
requests and reviews everything
that was inputted. He checks in with
all departments and addresses duties
related to disaster preparedness,
training courses and inventory needs,
among others.
From left, Jon Tonko, VP of FBO
services, Kenny Gibson and Don
Campion, CEO at Banyan Air
Service.
While his daily duties expand beyond
safety, Gibson's dedication to safe working
practices has had a profound impact
on Banyan Air Service.
" Kenny is one of the most knowledgeable
people in the aviation industry. He's
our go-to guy for all questions about
safety, " says Bartman.
" I believe a business can only run efficiently
when all procedures are following
the proper safety protocols, " Gibson adds.
" I make sure all policies, procedures and
training manuals are up to date, have
bi-weekly meetings with my trainers and
monthly meetings with the entire team. "
Banyan leadership recognized the
IS-BAH program was becoming an industry
standard and made the decision to
pursue Stage 1 registration in 2018.
Banyan wanted to maintain its reputation
of being a leader in business
aviation and began the process of
completing Stage 1 in 2018, spearheaded
by Gibson. To achieve this goal,
Gibson recognized that the FBO would
need a new training manual to ensure
policy and procedures were properly
implemented. To ensure compliance
May 2022 || AviationPros.com || 19
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