By Samuel Allen, C.M., ACE Airport Operations Manager Macho attitudes are prevalent in the modern world. An extension of the “Look mom, no hands!” philosophy has ebbed and flowed throughout pop culture to the beat of many different generational drums. Macho attitudes are also rampant in the aviation and construction industries— and both career fields… Read more »
By Samuel Allen, C.M., ACE Airport Operations Manager Despite the airport environment being unlike any other work environment, common problems and challenges persist. In a “normal” setting, multiple chances to get things right are commonplace, often resulting in perseverance being at the forefront of workplace mentalities. Oftentimes though, the airport can be a high-consequence locale,… Read more »
By Ilona A. Munzer, CEO, Alder Airfield Services Each day we have the opportunity to learn something new. I dig that. In airfield construction, learning isn’t optional. It’s survival. Every project teaches us something about sequencing, coordination, communication, about what works beautifully on paper and what needs adjustment in the field. One lesson continues to… Read more »
By Samuel Allen, C.M., ACE Airport Operations Manager Construction sites are inherently hazardous situations, but physical risks are only part of the safety equation. Mindset plays an equally important role. In aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identifies five “hazardous attitudes” that impair judgment and increase risk: anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, and resignation. Although developed… Read more »
By Ilona A. Munzer, CEO, Alder Airfield Services High-risk. High-pressure. High-stakes. Airfield construction leaves no margin for error. Yet too often, safety on the Air Operations Area (AOA) is folded into general labor or reduced to a checklist. That’s the problem Alder Airfield Services was built to solve. I came to aviation construction through an… Read more »
A friend recently sent me a link to a New York Times article titled “A Construction Worker’s Suicide Highlights a Wider Crisis” focusing on suicide in the construction industry. She asked if I’d read it and was curious how closely it mirrored what day-to-day life in airfield construction is really like. What struck me most… Read more »
As 2025 came to a close, and as we’ve ventured into these first weeks of 2026, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the year behind us, the people who made it meaningful, and the direction Alder Airfield Services is heading in 2026. This year took us from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to San Antonio… Read more »
As the year winds down, I’m once again amazed at how fast December whizzes past us. We prep for the holidays, blink, and they’re over. One of the things that makes me genuinely happy during that time is writing personalized cards to clients and shipping little tokens of appreciation in the mail. Real cards. Real… Read more »
LinkedIn recently reunited me with my Austrian second cousin, whom I hadn’t seen since childhood. Technology is just wild, isn’t it? We used to play together in my relative’s 300-year-old farmhouse, complete with an attic and an old spindle. Those memories got me thinking about where we come from and how geography, history, and circumstance… Read more »