THE Federal Aviation Administration reported that for 2018, the last year which complete data is available for, civilian aircraft were struck by wildlife 14,661 times.
That’s an average of over 40-times per day! The estimated yearly cost of the damage is one billion dollars.
These strikes, birds mostly (though in Botswana in 2000 there was one confirmed giraffe strike) can be harrowing. For the plane, passengers and the pilots. Other than Sully Sullenberger of course. Some strikes are worse than harrowing! Over the last 20-years the FAA reports that animal strikes accounted for 106 human fatalities.
For the birds of course, the toll was much higher!
Despite the bad odds, the birds continue their assault on our planes and airports, with 97% of bird strikes happening during takeoff (61%) or landing (36%).
In the skies over our nation’s airports, it’s the plane which rules the space. Outweighed by a factor of thousands, the birds are not putting up much of a fight in asserting their rights to use the space equally.
The birds should save themselves for battles they can win!
Away from airports, skies are more peaceful. Lakes, cities, fields and towns all make for a safer environment for birds to take out any anger they have towards the presence of mankind. They should stick to the quieter skies where birds are free to eat the fruit of our trees, the seeds from our lawns and shit on as many freshly washed cars they like!
What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Dealer
The “airspace” over the internet of paint can be as crowded for a dealer as the airspace over JFK is, for a goose.
Like the geese, dealers will be more successful avoiding the crowds.
Dealers looking to use digital tools, social media and web sites, should of course be focused on building the brand!
But it’s their own brand they should be building! More so than that of the manufacturers they represent.
Fight the Fights You Can Win
Manufacturers who sell to independents have a tough fight on their hands. The major paint producers and national retailers have (seemingly) unlimited budgets to market their products to the country’s paint consumers. It’s in that environment that companies need to find a way to make their products stand out. No easy task for manufacturers!
When you’re forced to fly in crowded airspace, it’s better to be the plane than the bird!
Thankfully, it’s up to companies like Benjamin Moore, C2 and Pratt & Lambert to take flight over the crowded skies.
Sherwin Williams and Home Depot do a great job telling the entire country which paint to buy. But neither of them can tell consumers in Columbia, Tennessee what paints and colors their neighbors are using. At least not as well as a locally owned paint dealer.
Like Zack at Paintcolumbia.com/about-us.
The mistake the goose made was trying to fly with the big-boys. Now, lost to eternity is what the goose was thinking as the windshield of the Boeing turned it into my muse.
Maybe, “I should have stayed in town and just shit on the cars!”
Forced by circumstance to take a 7:30 AM meeting, I was at my desk before Guy made it past my office door. Thankfully, I had the desk at just the right height so that she wasn't too distracted on her way out!
