On the Record With
Larry Flynn, President, Product
Support, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
Gulfstream likes to see itself as set apart from the
"normal" world of business and executive flying. Larry Flynn has no doubt that
the service he provides is totally unique and plays a very big role in
discriminating a Gulfstream from those other aircraft.
"I am the only one in the business aviation industry who is
a president of product support— the only clear one with full control and full
accountability for our customers that goes right up to board level." In fact,
Flynn wears many hats. Alongside the product support portfolio at Gulfstream,
he is also the president of General Dynamics Aviation Services, and a vice
president at General Dynamics Corp. Gulfstream and GDAS are the two components
of the aerospace division at General Dynamics.
Flynn is clear about the firepower that GD gives Gulfstream.
"GD is an $18Ð$20 billion company, of which Gulfstream represents $3 billion.
GD gives me the investment I need to get things done."
Getting things done is what it's all about for customers.
While Gulfstream's main aim is obviously to sell aircraft, it is product
support that can make or break a deal. "That's no secret," says Flynn, "but we
deal with this like no other OEM. These are our aircraft, so we are going to
look after them ourselves. Gulfstream does 100% of its own completion work and
70% of servicing and maintenance across the worldwide fleet of about 1,500
in-service aircraft."
Gulfstream operates a network of 12 company-owned service
centers. Eleven of these are in the U.S., reflecting the fact that 80% of the
Gulfstream fleet is in North America. The London-Luton service center is the
only Gulfstream-owned facility outside the U.S., but the company does have a
worldwide chain of 12 other authorized warranty and line service centers to
support its customers elsewhere.
The branding of these facilities is split between Gulfstream
and General Dynamics Aviation Services. GDAS plays a key role in winning
business outside existing Gulfstream operators, says Flynn. Its work on
non-Gulfstream aircraft is an important revenue stream, but it also provides a
link to non-Gulfstream owners who perhaps can be persuaded to buy a Gulfstream
in the future.
"GDAS gives us access to new customers," notes Flynn with a
smile. "You might work on a customer's Falcon but eventually sell them a
Gulfstream." Every year Gulfstream services about 6,000 aircraft. Says Flynn,
"about 3,000 of those are Gulfstreams and about 3,000 are other people's
aircraft. The jobs cover everything from a 30-minute fix to major overhaul."
Increasingly, GDAS is taking on the servicing role for
older, out-of-production Gulfstream types like the GII and GIII.
In addition, when Gulfstream bought Galaxy Aerospace to add
the G100, the G200 and later the G150 to its product portfolio, GDAS acquired
all product support rights for the IAI Westwind family. GDAS is now the sole
production source for all Westwind spares.
Gulfstream has always been very vocal about its on-call
product support aircraft— a G100 based in the U.S. that's dedicated to
delivering flight essential parts and technicians 365 days a year. The jet has
the appropriate registration N247PS (24/7 product support). Since it started
operations in May 2002 the G100 has flown more than 700 of what Gulfstream
calls "flight saving trips" at no cost to the customer.
"The airplane is busy; I want it to be busy," says Flynn.
"The pilots are like firemen and they fly almost every day, usually doubling or
tripling up tasks on each journey." Lest anyone interpret this as a sign that
Gulfstreams are in any way unreliable, Flynn stresses that the aircraft is on
hand to meet an owner's every need, no matter how small, as an essential part
of Gulfstream's service commitment.
"If there is a customer who has paid $45 million for an
aircraft and they need a coffee pot, we will send them a coffee pot. If it's
under warranty we will fix it. We don't define what is 'mission critical'— our
customers do. I want to be able to look that guy in the eye and say, 'Here's
what you wanted.' Just think what kind of sales leverage that gives us. People
buy our aircraft because of the product support. We are not trying to do cheap.
We are trying to sell airplanes. Look at the cost of that coffee pot flight
against our $3 billion order book. If your finance people are the ones overseeing
your product support efforts, then you've got the wrong people in charge."
