said.“Businesses are changing all the time. Technology is moving at an extraordinarily fast pace, especially with some of the AI developments out there.” “The company aircraft is an extension of the executive offices,” said Gregory Kulis, CAM Fellow and founder/ owner of Business Aviation Safety and Security LLC.“So, your security and safety policy has to be integrated and aligned with the corporate culture.” Kulis, who also serves as a business aviation safety and security consultant with Lane Aviation, added that properly vetting vendors is especially important for flight planning and inflight security. “I like to view the flight’s progression from beginning to conclusion and look at the points during the flight’s operation where we are using vendors,” said Kulis, a former chair of the NBAA Security Council. GROUND TRANSPORTATION CONSIDERATIONS “Comprehensive vetting of ground transportation providers is vital to travel security for flight crews as well as passengers,” Kulis said. “When traveling, and something bad happens, the odds are very high that it is going to be related directly or indirectly to the ground transportation segment. When you are going from the aircraft to the hotel, keep in mind the detailed information that the person taking you there has about you and the flight operation.” Confirm that the driver handling the trip is the person actually hired by the ground transport company, Kulis suggested. “There are some very well vetted, well qualified ground transportation providers out there, and they’re not difficult to locate,” he said. Many flight departments routinely fly to the same destinations and use the same vendors over and over, added Kulis. “However, it is also important when using the same vendors that periodically operators review or audit things from a procedural standpoint to ensure that a vendor is maintaining the standards that were evaluated when that operation began using them,” he said. “So standardized maintenance reviews are also important.” CONSIDER USING AI FOR DEEP RESEARCH The growth of artificial intelligence can make vendor research less time-consuming. “I would say with the advent of a lot of the new AI models out there, especially the large-language models, like [OpenAI] GPT-4, or [Anthropic] Claude or [Microsoft] Copilot, it doesn’t matter if you have limited resources,” said Cauthen.“Dive deep in your research and be sure to phrase your queries properly to get the information you’re looking for.” For financial research, Cauthen recommends specialized information services such as Dun & Bradstreet, which offers fairly affordable options. REFERRALS FROM PEERS AND CLIENTS Experts also suggest getting referrals from industry peers or from existing clients of potential vendors. Site visits also can be a good idea when checking out vendors. 6 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 05, ISSUE 04
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