Less than three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, another powerful storm, Hurricane Rita, set its sights on Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, Raytheon Aircraft Company’s (RAC) Houston facility, its 82 site employees, and a number of customer facilities were directly in the hurricane’s path.

Following the company’s customer-focused strategy, the onsite RAC staff put its Houston customers first during the crisis. To prepare for the storm, site managers immediately contacted all customers and made arrangements to move their aircraft to alternate RAC service centers. For those customers who chose not to transition their aircraft to another site, RAC staff assured them that their equipment would be locked down and secured. Furthermore, all customers were informed that they would receive a call after the storm regarding the status of their aircraft.

Threat Identified, Plan Activated
As soon as Hurricane Rita was determined to be a threat to the Dallas region, RAC leadership activated their business crisis response team to plan for all possible outcomes. The team activated emergency preparedness plans and identified an incident support team. In addition, business president Jim Shuster took an active role in communications, sending a message out to all RAC employees informing them of the storm’s potential impact and the company’s focus on safety for all employees and their families. That same day, he also visited the Houston facility to assess the situation firsthand.

“Having seen the effects that Hurricane Katrina had on so many lives in the Gulf Coast area, we wanted to be sure that our employees and our facilities would be safe and secure,” said Schuster. “We knew it would be best to implement precautionary measures as soon as possible, and to communicate with our customers and employees about what those measures were.”

To keep employees and their families fully informed about the storm’s impact, RAC Communications also created a special website providing communication updates, accessible both inside and outside the Raytheon firewall.

Safety of Employees and Facility Ensured
Seventy-seven employees were asked to evacuate RAC’s Houston facility on Thursday, Sept. 22, and following evacuation, the site was promptly shut down at 6 p.m. A core team of five employees, led by Houston General Manager Dennis Braden, remained onsite to prepare the facility for final lockdown.

Before employees left the facility, they were provided with a call-in number for emergency updates. Leadership also obtained their contact information and evacuation destinations in order to reach them if needed.

The incident response team then took action to ensure that operations could resume after Rita’s landfall. Gasoline and generators were stationed onsite, sensitive electrical equipment was secured and covered, and two Beechcraft® 1900s were readied in case an emergency pick-up was needed. Contractors were also placed on standby in case assistance was needed with electrical and structural repair, and motor homes were secured that could serve as headquarters during facility repairs.

Final Preparations Made
By Friday, Sept. 23, employees were all safely offsite, and the facility was secured for lockdown by Dennis Braden and his team. Braden’s group then boarded a Beechcraft 1900, which flew them to safety in Dallas, Texas. Upon landing, the team placed follow-up calls to all 77 employees, confirming their safety and storm plans.

Effects of Hurricane Rita Assessed
After Hurricane Rita moved past through the Gulf Coast — fortunately avoiding a direct blow to Houston — the site assessment team traveled to the RAC facility to assess potential damage, including security, operations, and electrical and structural engineering. Thankfully, leadership was informed of minimal damage including slight tile and sheet metal damage. Better still, not a single customer aircraft was harmed, and only one employee reported home damage or injury.

Facility Up and Running
The Houston airport facility returned to business as usual by 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25. Thanks to the preparedness of the RAC team — most notably the close attention it paid to its customers’ aircraft — the site is again poised to deliver world-class service.

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