AMTonline Blogs

In this month’s AMT editor’s column I discussed mechanic pay and responsibility. I made a loose analogy between the different stages of an A&P’s career and a doctor’s career. As usual if we mention pay or responsibility in the magazine the feedback pours in. One reader said that we have more responsibility than a doctor. He pointed out that a doctor holds a life in his hands each time he diagnoses a patient. A wrong diagnosis or unsuccessful surgery could lead to death. Our patients are airplanes. Unlike a doctor, a wrong diagnosis or repair can lead to multiple fatalities.

So where does pay fall in? If we hold so many lives in our hands should we be paid as much as or more than doctors? Basically market forces end up determining our pay. Again it goes back to the old supply and demand. If there is a shortage of mechanics and a great demand then pay will go up to try and attract and keep the employees. So what are your thoughts? Is there a doctor in the house?

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

OK, I will begin today’s blog by saying it is my birthday. And let’s just say it is a milestone one. My co-workers were gracious enough to decorate my office with black balloons, R.I.P. signs, and an inflatable cane that reads “Tease me about my age and I’ll hit you with my cane.” They have had quite a bit of fun at my expense, and I appreciate their thoughtful birthday wishes.

But all of the hullabaloo of today pales in comparison to the significance of next Wednesday. You see, it is then that we celebrate AMT Day on the birthday of Charles Taylor.

So, what will you be doing to celebrate? Will your company be doing anything special? We are aware of a few events going on. Frontier Airlines will be having an AMT Day event complete with special presentations. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will be kicking off next week’s Future of Aviation Maintenance summit with an AMT Day reception.

Even if your company is not having an event, you can still help celebrate AMT Day. If you haven’t done so already, you can contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and ask them to support National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day. PAMA has been spearheading the effort to have a national AMT Day resolution. You can find more information about it on http://www.pama.org/. You can click here to download a PDF brochure distributed by PAMA describing the National AMT Day effort.

AMT magazine is making a special effort to help promote AMT Day. Our managing editor Barb Zuehlke has written an article about AMT Day and Charles Taylor and we have submitted it to CNN, Fox News, and the Associated Press. We wanted to help educate the general public on Charles Taylor, the unsung aviation hero.

So, what will you do to celebrate AMT Day? Let us know!

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

One could look at it as a damage control move. In a public statement released on May 12, an aviation business said that its unionized employees were on strike effective at 12 noon. The company said that it had been negotiating with the union with “a goal of reaching a consensual agreement on the terms of their collective bargaining agreement.” The company said that earlier in the week it and the union had completed a tentative agreement that contained merit salary increases, delayed health care cost increases, and improved several other areas of the contract. The union members rejected that TA and the strike ensued. In the press release, the company said, “Management believes that the TA sufficiently balances the economic realities of the airline profession we serve and the needs of the fine employees.”

So, what is the greedy corporate entity that the union is striking against? Ironically, it is the Air Line Pilots Association. That’s right — a union is striking a union. ALPA’s employees, who belong to the Union of ALPA Professional and Administrative Employees, Unit 2, are on strike against ALPA.

It’s never funny when a union goes on strike. It is a very stressful situation. But you almost have to laugh at the irony of this situation. I guess if you are a union employee, you have your best shot striking against a union. ALPA said in its statement, “ALPA strongly believes in and supports the right of all employees — including its own — to strike. The officers of the association will do nothing to undermine or interfere with their strike.”

Click here to read ALPA’s complete statement.

You got to wonder how this will affect ALPA’s negotiating power at the table. How can it bargain for increased wages and benefits for its members while its own employees are on strike for the same reasons?

Isn’t it ironic?

Joe Escobar

Well it’s over! I just completed my first online college course at Eastern New Mexico University Roswell (ENMUR). Time sure has flown by! It seems like just yesterday that I was signing up for the course. Now, I have my first online college credit hours under my belt.

About ENMUR

We have written about ENMUR in the past. FAA columnist Bill O’ Brien discussed how the University’s online degree program works in his article College Degrees: What’s available and affordable for mechanics. Basically, the university awards A&P mechanics 72 college credits toward an 84-credit associate’s degree in applied science degree in aviation maintenance technology. So to earn the degree, you need only to complete four, three-credit-hour courses. The courses are:

• Univ 101: Freshman seminar
• Eng 102: English composition
• Comm 101: Interpersonal Communications
• Math 107: Intermediate Algebra

I enrolled in the university and signed up for my first course – University 101: Freshman Seminar. I must admit that I thought this course would be a waste of time. After all, it was probably designed for young wet-behind-the-ears high school graduates. What could a 39-year-old possibly learn from such a course? But it was a required course, so I resigned myself to get through it.

How the course works

The online course program was easy to pick up. You log in to the virtual classroom from any computer with internet access. There are no regularly scheduled class times. You can log on at your convenience, 24 hours a day. Once logged on, you can view any assignments that the instructor has posted. There is a discussion area where you can post comments or questions to other students or to the instructor. Tests are scheduled throughout the course, and you just log on to the test and take it before the deadline.

Benefits

There are several benefits to the course. For an accredited degree program, the tuition fees are very reasonable. The other obvious advantage is the flexibility of the schedule. Unlike a brick and mortar classroom such as a night course at your local community college, there is no set class time. You are responsible to ensure you log in on a regular basis, turn in all assignments by their due date, and take tests by the deadline.

Drawbacks

One aspect that may be a drawback for some is that there is no live interaction. Online courses require discipline to manage your time and pace yourself in a self-study atmosphere. Even though there is no regularly scheduled class time, if you travel a lot (as I do) it can be challenging to ensure you devote enough time to the class. But with some determination and willpower, it can be done!

By the way, the class I took was far from the waste of time I thought it would be. I gained a lot of knowledge from the class, knowledge that I can apply to both classwork and the job. Some of the lessons taught included time management, memory skills, note taking, critical thinking, and communication. I would recommend this course and the online degree program in whole to any aircraft maintenance professional!

I would estimate that at least 80 percent of my classmates were aircraft maintenance professionals. We had a QA inspector with NetJets, several Delta mechanics, a maintenance supervisor for Frontier Airlines, a CASS process improvement and risk specialist from Astar Air Cargo, a director of quality control from Lynden Air Cargo in Anchorage, Alaska, and even a mechanic working on UH-1H/V Hueys in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. Congratulations to all my classmates who made the commitment to take this first step in advancing their education!

Have you taken any online courses? What feedback or suggestion would you give to someone considering taking an online course?

Thanks for reading, and your feedback is always appreciated!

Joe Escobar

On the trip back from last week’s MRO show in Phoenix, I was watching The History Channel on Frontier Airlines’ in-flight programming. The show was talking about the history of Coca Cola and Pepsi. It talked about how both companies evolved and grew. Part of the feature included a discussion of Coke’s decision to change its recipe in the late ’80s. It seems that Coke was worried about Pepsi’s growing market share and decided to change its recipe to more closely match Pepsi’s. As we now know, that was a big mistake. The backlash was intense. Coke ended up changing its recipe back and once again offered “Classic Coke.”

It appears that Coke was more obsessed with what Pepsi was doing than with what its customers wanted. If it would have taken the time to listen to what its customers wanted, it would have realized that they liked the recipe just as it was.

The same goes in any industry. We must always pay attention to our customer and give them what they want. That is one way to ensure success.

Pratt & Whitney recently took listening to its customers to a new level. It listened to United Airlines’ concern with replacement parts for the CFM56-3 engine. Pratt discovered there was a need that was not being met and decided to offer a solution for that need. It decided to take the amazing step of manufacturing replacement parts for the CFM56-3 engine under Parts Manufacturing Approval. Pratt says that it is doing more than just making PMA parts. It is offering quality parts solutions by bringing to the table its engineering expertise and aftermarket support.

PMA companies say that is exactly what they have been doing for years and that this move by Pratt & Whitney just adds to the legitimacy of PMA parts as a whole.

So, what do you think about this whole issue? How do you feel about PMA parts? What do you think about an OEM stepping into the PMA arena?

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar