3rd quarter 2009           

DBIA service contract spawns temporary facility in Ormond Beach

The flexible bellows and intricate electronics and hydraulics allow the passenger boarding bridges to serve a variety of aircraft used at Daytona Beach International Airport.

When Ameribridge Services, an Indianapolis company, won a contract to refurbish the passenger boarding bridges at Daytona Beach International Airport (DBIA), it found a way to avoid the monumental costs of shipping the bridges to and from Indy. It didn’t ship them.

Ameribridge offers turnkey services for the rehabilitation, repair, modification, and sale of passenger boarding bridges.

“These bridges are the walkways that connect the gates with the aircraft,” said Steve Cooke, director of Air Service Development at DBIA. “They are for the comfort and convenience of passengers and are used by most types of commercial passenger jets. They allow passengers to board without being exposed to the weather and they are controlled with intricate systems and advanced hydraulics.”

Five of DBIA’s six passenger boarding bridges are being refurbished. They have been in service since the terminal opened in 1992. The schedule takes only one bridge out of service at a time; work is being done over eight months at a cost of $1.2 million. Refurbishment usually can be accomplished at about 60 percent the cost of new equipment, a significant savings in the current economic climate, Cooke said.

“Of course, we were pleased to win the bid, but we always are looking at ways to
control costs,” said Dustin Sloan, vice president and general manager of Ameribridge. “To avoid shipping each bridge to our plant in Indianapolis, we shopped around Volusia County and found a facility at the Ormond Beach Airport Business Park where we could perform the work locally. This saves time and money for us and for Volusia County Government.”

City of Ormond Beach Economic Development Director Joe Mannarino stands before one section of a passenger boarding bridge undergoing refurbishment by Ameribridge at its Ormond Beach facility.

The company has leased an 18,500-squarefoot facility at the business park and trucks
the units to and from DBIA. The company is part of the Five-Star Airport Alliance, which includes several companies that provide baggage handling system design, including 3-D laser scanning, product manufacturing, software/controls implementation, installation and maintenance of baggage handling systems, passenger boarding bridges and ground support equipment. The Alliance includes Ameribridge Services, Elite Line Services, G&T Conveyor Company, The Horsley Company, Star Systems and ScanWorks. It serves airports and airlines across the nation and internationally. The company also has contracts with Miami International Airport —and Panama City-Bay County International Airport.

Ameribridge officials said they are pleased to be able to establish its temporary facility so close to DBIA. And Ormond Beach officials are happy the project has landed in the city.

“Even though this is a temporary establishment, it is great to have another tenant at the Ormond Beach Airport Business Park,” said Joe Mannarino, Ormond Beach director of Economic Development. “It adds to the vitality of what is already a high productivity location and it provides great testimony to the versatility of the park for other companies that may be looking for an Ormond Beach location.”

Daytona Beach International Airport is served by Delta Air Lines and US Airways, both of which use the airport’s passenger boarding bridges. The bridges also are available for any charter or scheduled air carrier that needs to use the domestic passenger terminal.