“There’s an old saying: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’…  We’re here to fill in those gaps with new information, clarity, and reminders of what can easily be forgotten within the complexities of private aviation.” — Tim Bartholomew, FPI’s Executive Director of Operations.

In this edition, FPI spotlights the vision behind COR’s (“Compliance, Operations, and Regulatory”) Focus so that our audience can anticipate and leverage the data as best as possible upon its release.

“FPI’s COR Focus purpose is to continually seek out, monitor, and deliver timely and specific trip planning knowledge by highlighting options and alternative choices so that flight departments, client leadership, crew, and schedulers/dispatchers can navigate the best possible program for their clients,” Tim states.

Although headquartered in Houston, TX, FPI’s Ops Team has boots on the ground on a 24/7/365 basis on a global scale, with domestic and global team members working in tandem for over 30 years. It’s for this reason that FPI’s COR Focus initiative can regularly relay vast and regional expertise concerning:

• Impact of world events (i.e. World Cups, World Economic Forums, Airshows, Olympics) and one-off and large-impact events (i.e. State Funerals, Coronations, Royal Weddings, etc.)
• Changes to airport operations, including hours, closures, implementation of slots
• Reviews of airports worldwide
• Global trip support regarding fuel, vendors, ground operations, and Travel Agency services, and Customer Support through FPI’s “Special Services Network” (SSN)
• Global alerts regarding fuel shortages, strikes, and protests
• Travel restrictions (i.e. health updates and visas)
• Regional/seasonal best practices regarding issues such as unusual traffic, parking constraints, Summertime travel to Greece, selecting the best airports for tech stops, London trips, etc.
• Compliance reminders (i.e. European emissions programs, inspections, decals) and special programs, such as the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Reimbursable Services Program (RSP)
• Regulatory changes (i.e. changes to Mexico’s landing permits, UK aviation legislation, carbon taxes, etc.)
• Weather and related movement issues, including NOTAMs, enroute delays, timing, etc.

“It’s noteworthy to consider the importance of how forward-thinking our fully-in-house meteorology/flight planning team is. We’re always looking at potential issues far in advance so there are no surprises, and so our clients can make well-informed change decisions, if necessary,” states Brad Asselin, Director of Weather and Flight Planning Services.

Alan Owen, FPI’s Sr. Manager, United Kingdom, concurs, “By collaborating with COR, we benefit our clients by delivering accurate, up-to-date, and face-to-face knowledge whilst supervising their transition through our European airports. This ensures each and every step is successfully implemented to the very highest standards, from pre-trip planning, to take off, landing, and post-trip services.”

COR services regarding the French region are addressed by Lionel Cojan, FPI’s Sr. Manager in France. “My goal is to anticipate all of the needs of our clients. Supervision of flights is a big asset offered by FPI France as it allows us to get to know our clients and suppliers on a more detailed level. It’s a great opportunity to fly with clients between French airports in order to provide 100% dedicated, end-to-end service, to ensure all is going well for them, and often to simply provide a friendly atmosphere during travel.”

Not that anything compliance-related is simple, Rick Snider (Director, Contracts and Compliance) and Jeffrey Basham (Sr. Manager, Compliance) manage to greatly simplify worldwide COR Focus compliance and regulatory obligations for FPI clients, which can become quite complex for operators of any size, especially when reporting may occur as infrequently as once a year.

“It can be very cumbersome for operators to keep up with compliance issues in addition to keeping up with the nuanced changes in each region along the way,” states Jeffrey. “Our job is to help clients understand and track the reporting necessities required for their specific operations and to take that burden from their shoulders.”

FPI will continue publishing COR Focus information regularly through the monthly editions of “Connections by FPI,” and additional time-sensitive special alerts will be released as needed. 

However, we encourage clients and colleagues alike to take advantage of FPI’s COR Focus experts anytime by reaching out and allowing us to bring clarity and focus to the many demands of your upcoming global trip management operations.

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To learn more about FPI’s Compliance, Operations, Regulatory, and other Special Services Network (SSN) teams within FPI, please contact our Operations staff here at Flight Pro International.

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