How to become an airline supplier

Ask FSB

Get small-business intelligence from the experts. Here's a chance for YOU to ask your pressing small-business questions, and FSB editors will help you get answers from the appropriate experts.

Your name:

* Your e-mail address:

* Your city:

* Your state:
Select Outside U.S. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Dist. of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

* Your daytime phone #:

* Your questions:

More from FSB

Help wanted for HR firm A CEO and rodeo queen King of the mountain bike

Current Issue

(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I own a cleaning business, and I would love to clean airplanes - how can I apply to get contracts?

- Gina, San Diego

Dear Gina: While some airlines use in-house maintenance services, many of them source jobs to cleaning companies such as your own.

Continental Airlines (CAL, Fortune 500) manages its supplier contracts through Ariba, a Sunnyvale, Calif., business that handles the application and payment process. Don Darby, the director of supplier solutions for Ariba, suggests that you register on the company's website as a service provider (an annual membership costs $295). Once you post your profile, the network will connect you with companies when they post requests for cleaning services, and you can solicit them with a description of your business.

Other airlines handle applications directly; JetBlue Airlines (JBLU), for example, accepts proposals on its website. Bryan Baldwin, a JetBlue spokesperson, says that the need for cleaning services is locally determined.

"At airports like Pittsburgh, where we only run a few flights a day, we're more likely to contract out work," he says.

Overall, it's best to get your name on as many supplier lists as possible. "To find service suppliers, many buyers use sources as simple as Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)," says Darby. "With the internet, it's easier for business of any size to get found more often."