Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST)

Combining maintenance expertise with the resources of the company's Airborne Product Support (APS) unit and on-the-road mobile support vehicles brings the dawning of the Gulfstream Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST).

Gulfstream FAST members can be dispatched by airplane, train, automobile or van to tackle maintenance issues for Gulfstream aircraft around the world. They are an integral part of the largest company-owned product support network in business aviation, with more than 3,700 professionals. Gulfstream Product Support is consistently ranked by trade publications as the premier organization of its kind.

The first FAST is based in Europe, with two maintenance engineers in Geneva, one in Altenrhein, Switzerland, and one in Greece. The team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to maintenance requests in the field.

Each of the four Europe-based engineers is type-rated on multiple Gulfstream aircraft models. Three in the group are European Aviation Safety Agency-licensed mechanical and electrical engineers. All of them have earned a Federal Aviation Administration airframe and power plant license.

Traditionally, engineers and technicians based at Gulfstream's service center in Luton, England, supported European, Middle Eastern and Asian operators facing an aircraft-on-ground situation. Now, Gulfstream FAST members are the primary responders.

These rapid responders can access more than $1.2 billion in parts and materials around the world, including more than $125 million in parts inventory at Gulfstream warehouses in Madrid and Luton. Gulfstream FAST can also draw upon the resources of Gulfstream's Luton service center, which recently moved into a new 75,000-square-foot hangar, and 12 authorized warranty repair and warranty line-service facilities across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Gulfstream FAST members often work side-by-side with one or more of the 14 Gulfstream field service representatives who provide technical support to operators in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, serving as their liaison to Gulfstream.

When Gulfstream FAST is installed in North America, it will work in conjunction with APS, the first-of-its-kind airborne aircraft maintenance and support program. The 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation uses two dedicated G100 aircraft to deliver flight-essential parts or technicians to customers whose aircraft are under warranty in North America and the Caribbean. FAST members can also use mobile support vehicles, including specially outfitted trucks and vans that are strategically located across the U.S.

When the terrain is rough, the weather is harsh and the stakes are high, there's only one way to answer your call – FAST.