Peter Agius, Airtec’s latest appointment, brings a wealth of experience and technical expertise to the fore. He used to dig trenches and operate machinery in Sydney before his stint in the aviation industry via an aircraft apprenticeship at Bankstown Airport, and now he is leading Airtec through its expansion into New South Wales.
In 2001, Peter was selected out of 80 applicants for the pre-trade course at Bankstown Airport and he then delved deeper into aviation with a job at a small company in 2002. There, he began fixing aeroplanes and helicopters which allowed him to move onto helicopter dealer, Heliflite. His journey was slowly starting to take shape.
“At one time we were importing 60 helicopters a year, so it was a busy little workshop,” he says. “I did that for a few years and then I jumped out to another company that operated large helicopters and I got some experience with turbines, firefighting and things like that.”
In around 2009, Peter moved up into the technical records area where he was responsible for completing work planning for helicopters. A highlight of Peter’s career during this period, which he is very fond of, he was required in northern and southern Australia to help out with the dust storms that were happening throughout Melbourne and the east coast at the time. The company he worked for had a fleet of helicopters on oil and gas duties, and his role was to maintain the fleet with a team of engineers.
After taking a small break from aviation in 2013, and returning to the industry in 2017, it seemed Peter’s path was steering towards the heavy vehicle industry.
“I was working for a couple of my mates where we did all the tech records and some mechanical work out in the workshop,” he says. “I was there until June this year, and then I swapped over to Airtec.”
Peter had already met Airtec Director, David Hewett, a few years prior through a friend, which made the transition easier.
“They had an opportunity there, and it was pretty easy for me to change job roles to being a BDM for Airtec on the truck side,” he says. “It’s a good choice and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it so far.”
Peter’s love for anything with a motor in it, he says, was essentially what led him to the industry.
“There’s obviously a lot of new manufacturing happening and things like that, whereas in the aviation business it’s rare to get a new bit of gear or something new and exciting to work on,” he says. “You work on old and exciting things, but there’s not too many new things just because of the cost of each bit of gear in aviation and the helicopters. But now, I get to work on a variety of things like farm machinery and 3D printing. Whatever it is, I’ve got an interest in it. It’s fun.”
For Peter, the transition from aviation compliance to heavy vehicles was a smooth process as he says there are a lot of similarities between the industries.
“I don’t think it’s very different, but in the whole compliance it’s not as regimented in how it’s audited and things like that,” he says. “It’s been great to see there’s a few parallels now in the way a lot of these companies which keep records of maintenance which is relatively lighter in the heavy vehicle industry, but I think it’s still moving that way. It’s good for everybody.”
By appointing Peter as the new BDM of NSW, Airtec is reinforcing support for clients in the region.
Source: Airtec.“I’ve been going out and meeting new people and new clients, and letting them know about Airtec’s new product, the AXS, which can help them save a bit of time and be more compliant,” Peter says. “Once we sell some equipment to them, it’s about making sure that they’re onboarded properly as well.
“If their telematics partner or installer gets contacted once we’ve fitted the Airtec gear, we make sure that gets connected properly, as well as calibrations and training.”
In his role, Peter has been dedicated to ensuring Airtec is serving its customers and making sure that they are happy. And now, in addition to just delivering a smart On-Board Mass (OBM) system, he says the company will have a strong focus on taking the extra step.
“We’re not just delivering a smart OBM system now,” he says. “If a customer has a need for any other part that our gauge may be able to help them with, we can possibly customise or in the future look to implement extra features that they can benefit from. That’s all we can hope for.”
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