By Shannon Steffke Every day at airports across the country, ground crews cross the airfield as part of their normal work. From the driver’s seat of the truck, a taxiway can look quiet, nothing but a stretch of pavement with no aircraft in sight. On the far side is the reason the truck is out… Read more »
By Shannon Steffke “If an aircraft can touch it, we’re responsible for it.” That’s how Airport Operations Manager and AOA Safety Consultant Sam Allen sees the importance of flaggers, barricades, RPRs, and escorts keeping grounds safe. And when construction is added to the mix? “That introduces a whole new set of risks,” Sam said. Currently… Read more »
Editor’s note: At La Guardia Airport on March 22, 2026, two pilots were killed, and 43 passengers and crew were injured when the Air Canada plane operated by Jazz Aviation collided with a fire truck upon landing. Since then, safety experts have cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the causes of the incident until investigators… Read more »
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m reflecting on our mission to bring emotional well-being to the construction safety industry—and celebrating the people who make it possible. What we have at Alder Airfield Services is special. We have a community of dedicated professionals who show up every day to ensure safety, efficiency, and care on our nation’s airfields.… 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 »
Halloween has always been my favorite time of year. I love the creativity, the imagination, the chance to transform ordinary spaces into something magical or…spooky. I have scaled back a bit over the years, but I used to go all out. We’re talking full-blown decorations: fog machines, glowing pumpkins, creepy music, the works. There’s something… Read more »
Apparently I’m a morning person. Or at least I’ve become one. When I first started showing up to jobsites in the dark of morning, the sites were pretty much what you’d expect: tired, coffee-clutching men who had been doing this kind of work far longer than I. The airfield is not exactly the kind of… Read more »
I’m still riding the high from an incredible moment recently. I was nominated for a spot on the list of Top 100 Women in Aerospace & Aviation to Follow on LinkedIn 2025! This award that truly caught me by surprise. Ask Derek about my reaction, and it’ll probably include the phrase, “Holy Guacamole!” While I… Read more »
Each year, Derek and I head to Big Sur, California, for Hipnic, an annual music festival (and our wedding anniversary!!) featuring one of my all-time favorite bands: The Mother Hips. Over the last decade-plus, Hipnic has been my “Christmas;” my big event of the year. Not only is it a great way to connect with… Read more »
Construction projects might be vast and varied, but all of them have one critical component in common: the safety briefing. This is when we get together to talk about the importance of wearing good, quality steel-toe boots, about where flaggers will go, and we do everything to prevent incidents, including human trips, slips and falls. … Read more »