We arrived in Lexington, North Carolina, at Davidson County Airport (EXX) tired and hungry but the smiling face and great local intel from FlyHigh Lexington FBO customer service representative Stephanie Robinson were just what we needed. Stephanie offered up suggestions for places to stay (The Holiday Inn at Childress Vineyards, owned by Nascar team owner Richard Childress), where to eat (Lexington claims to be the “barbecue capital of the world”), and places to visit while we were in town.
Stephanie is one of the best examples of a general aviation FBO CSR and line tech. She’s friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about the city and her airport. “An FBO is where it all comes together,” she says. “Working at an FBO doing any position can make you a better aviator. You learn the importance of situational awareness on the ramp, and it will make you appreciate your hard work when you finally move on to your pilot training, A&P training, and even jobs at the airlines. Your exposure to general aviation and the connections you forge at the airport are invaluable, you never know who you’re going to meet, where you’re going to go, and who you’re going to see.”
Working at an FBO is an excellent way to learn about the aviation industry. It exposes you to a variety of tasks and responsibilities important to GA. “The customer service side has on-the-job training for assisting the customers who visit our airport,” said Stephanie, who has worked for FlyHigh Lexington for more than two years. She found it best to quickly learn basic aviation terms, the phonetic alphabet, and get familiar with different types of aircraft, and gain knowledge of weather-related vocabulary. “Fueling airplanes has specific training and certifications, which can also
be gotten while on the job. Our fuel comes from Titan, and they provide classes, certifications, and seminars, which we have all completed.”
Stephanie says every day is different, “but we start by checking our arrivals board to see who is en route to our airport and who is scheduled to depart our airport. Part of my job includes ensuring the fuel requests for departing aircraft have been completed and paid for, catering that may have been ordered has been delivered and transferred to the appropriate aircraft, and other services that have been requested are completed. For the arriving aircraft, we make sure their rental vehicles and any accommodations are lined up so their check in here at the front desk is quick and efficient.”
Thanks Stephanie, your service was all that and more.