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FUELING      
September 2026      AirportImprovement.com
  
have, where they are, and what condition they are in,” explains 
Bourdeau. “Without an accurate asset inventory and history, it is 
difficult to plan maintenance, anticipate replacement needs, or 
make meaningful financial decisions.”
As fueling and deicing facilities continue to grow in size, it would 
be difficult to maintain an accurate accounting of all assets and 
their locations without NFC tags, he adds. 
Who Can Log in?
Each fueling or deicing consortium dictates who has access to its 
SAIM platform. User permissions can be configured by role, facility 
and function, allowing the consortium to determine which parts of 
the system, records and data each user can view or manage. 
Service providers such as Menzies, Swissport, PLH Dublin and 
Inland were natural choices because they manage day-to-day 
operations and work on assets. Inspections data, maintenance 
activities, asset inventory, reporting, signals and alerts are all highly 
pertinent to them. Airline representatives, consortium members, 
airport personnel and other stakeholders can be given access to 
specific dashboards, facilities information, records and/or reports 
relevant to their responsibilities.
Clients can also provide limited or project-specified access 
to engineers, equipment vendors, contractors or construction 
managers who are supporting operational or capital improvements. 
Depending on their role, those teams may use digital twin 
information, equipment records or real-time signals to verify as-
built conditions, coordinate design and construction activities, or 
help troubleshoot facility issues remotely.  
Authorized airline users like Femia can monitor performance 
across several facilities from a single dashboard without traveling to 
each site or logging into multiple systems. He says the platform’s 
greatest advantage is replacing paperwork and on-site inspections 
with quick access to consolidated data. “We are not there yet, but 
part of the objective for this year is to use the dashboards as part of 
our quarterly business reviews with the operators,” says Femia.  
Airside and Seaside 
Marine facilities can also fall under consortia purview. “In Vancouver, 
we have the ability to receive fuel via ship at a marine terminal and 
move it through a dedicated pipeline to the airport fuel facilities,” 
says Femia. 
Airlines form the consortium ownership structure, but the system 
can accommodate other approved fuel suppliers. Femia describes 
it as an “open system,” allowing companies like Shell or Exxon to 
supply ships at the marine terminal. “We need that facility to be 
able to accept ships at the dock and we’re building a brand new 
one like it in Montreal,” he says.
The project Femia refers to is a $350 million jet fuel transshipment 
facility and marine terminal under construction in Montreal-Est, 
Quebec. It is being developed and managed by FSM Group’s 
Montreal International Fuel Facilities Corporation and is expected to 
be completed and fully operational in early 2027.
Femia says integrating technology with supply-chain information 
will be key for future fuel operations, “Having fuel and asset data 
from all of our operations at our fingertips is another area where I 
see SAIM bringing value,” he says.  
Glycol, Too
SAIM’s asset management capabilities extend beyond fueling 
infrastructure to other complex systems, facilities and mobile 
equipment. Canadian consortia, for instance, are applying the 
platform across both fueling and deicing operations—managing 
stationary assets within storage and distribution systems, while also 
supporting the maintenance and field operation of into-plane fueling 
equipment, hydrant carts, refuelers, glycol-recovery vehicles and 
other fleet assets. 
Three glycol consortia in Canada currently use the platform. 
As Femia points out, there is significant crossover between fueling 
and deicing operations. At the most basic level, they both deliver, 
store and dispense chemical fluids that are crucial to keep airlines 
flying. And both involve complex systems, equipment and vehicles 
that must be inspected, maintained and documented. “The same 
principles apply for tracking output on all the storage, valves, pumps—
all those assets,” says Femia. “That’s what we want to manage.” 
That said, the products and operating requirements are likely 
to differ from one facility to another. Some fuel systems handle a 
common aviation fuel specification supplied by multiple providers, 
while deicing operations use different types and formulations of 
ONE PLATFORM. TOTAL VISIBILITY  
ACROSS AIRFIELD OPERATIONS.
Real-time Signals. Digitized Facilities. Customized Workflows. 
Everything you need to manage  
asset compliance, inspections, and maintenance.  
SAIM.COM
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