Level of Trust

April 13, 2015

I often try to verbalize to our KING AEROSPACE Team my heartfelt desire of the level of service and commitment we seek to demonstrate to each other, those we serve and those we encounter. It has taken me years to find the right words to describe the trust that I strive to achieve. Only recently have I identified two experiences that help me communicate what I seek. I want to share them with you.

I was sitting in an airport terminal people watching, and I observed a scene that we have all seen countless times: when a mother or father brings their young child to the airport to put them on an airplane to fly alone. The parent cautiously hands over the care and custody of their young loved one to an airline official or flight attendant. You can see the reluctance in the eyes of both the parent and child. I can see the pain in their eyes as they are about to go separate directions. To me, it takes great trust for both the child and parent to deal with this situation. The parent must have unequivocal trust for the person they are allowing to take care of their precious loved one. The parent is trusting this total stranger to fulfill their commitment and meet their expectations, at all costs, free of excuses. The airline person accepts a real, legal obligation, but, more important, a moral responsibility to take care of this little person regardless of unexpected events. To me, this scene establishes an unconditional trust that must be maintained at all costs.

Another example of trust that I know way too well are the feelings you have as you are being wheeled into a surgical or operating room suite. As you are about to lose consciousness, you look around the room and know that you must have complete trust in those people in the surgery suite with your life. The medical professionals understand that regardless of what takes place while you are in their care and custody, they are committed to doing their very best to look after your interest. Again, this is an unconditional trust.

As a service provider, I have always taken our role just as serious. Several years ago we were blessed to have been awarded a $500,000,000 contract to take care of a fleet of Gulfstream aircraft. Upon notice of the new contract, people all around me were rightfully celebrating, but I was not. Someone asked me, “Why aren’t you excited?” My comment was, “I feel blessed, but when our new customers are totally happy with our performance, then I’ll be happy.” As we all know, it takes years to earn trust, and one bad decision can make it go away. Each aircraft that we touch makes me think of the trust that someone has placed in us, and this trust is not taken lightly. Even when things do not go as planned, it is important to do your very best and more to make things right to maintain the trust that was placed in you. There is no doubt that things will not always go according to plan, especially where there are people, mechanical items, weather and countless other challenges involved, but there is no room for anything less than a relentless, warrior spirit. We are far from being perfect, but be assured that we take trust very serious. This is my expectation and prayer.