Is there a doctor in the house?
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
Mechanic / Technician Pay
I feel that mechanic / technician pay is no where near what it should be for the responsibility that the job entails. I think the pay will have to come up if there is any hope keeping anyone in this industry in the future. I for one would do a double take coming out of school and looking at the current pay scales and responsibility of working on aircraft or working at the local GM / Ford dealership. The reality of mechanics / technicians holding so many lives in their hands on a daily basis is just mind boggling. As someone else stated, the doctor only has to worry about the one patient, where we have to worry about the patient and its cargo of human lives. Should mechanics / technicians be paid a six figure salary? It would be a nice dream but the reality is nobody could afford to employ us then. I think the minimum pay scales should come up to 15.00 an hour, and go up from there. This would be a little more of an enticing wage for new personnel to the field of aviation. When you are paying shop rates of 65.00 to 80.00 an hour at your local service center, you would hope that someone who is skilled, happy with their wages and wants to be there is working on your aircraft.
Scott Minshall
Douglas, Wyoming
Joe,
A couple of years ago I was watching one of the PBS channels and the emergency room doctor was describing his job. He said that he never knew what to expect when he got to work. The only thing that was reasonably sure was that if it was a rainy saturday night, he was going to be busy.
At the time I was managing “drop in” maintenance at TEB. I thought that my job was the same as the doctor’s until I realized that for the doctor all the patients were the same except for some differences between male and female. The hearts all did the same thing, the lungs all worked the same way etc. Then I started thinking about the aircraft. Every one had a different hydraulic system. Pneumatic systems were all different. Electrical systems–forgetaboutit!! Some had air starters, some had electrical starters, some had 3 hydraulic pumps, some had electrically driven hydraulic pumps and some had both! And you know what?? Yep, we had to know them all!!
Comparing us to doctors? I think the doctors are getting off easy!
Hugh Gwyn-Williams
Doctor in the house? (2006-05-26 09:27:15.0)
Excellent analogy. Ive always thought on that line. Thats why my car plates read, “JET DOC”. Thanks for that point of view.
Vic Duarte
Norfolk, Va
pay
All this time I thought we were supposed to pay the company for the privilege of working on their planes. Don’t know if I can afford to pay Doctors wages for that privilege. Sure was fun while it lasted.
Frank Bonthron
California
Doctor Pay
This is always a “bone of contention” to AMTs and we like to discuss it ad nauseam. The fact of the matter is; as long as we will work for less, we will work for less.
I like the approach that a quick thinking auto body shop owner took. On a beautiful day he was working with the overhead door open. A local Doctor and regular customer drove his Rolls-Royce into the shop, thrust a shinny new license plate out of the window and asked to have it installed. The shop owner did so and promptly handed the Doctor an invoice for $15. The Doctor’s response was “what’s this after all of the work I’ve let you do on my car you charge me $15 to change my license plates.” To which the quick thinking shop owner replied “I’ve never visited your office with a problem and received immediate attention without being billed for it.”
Darwin Carlson
Scottsbluff, Nebraska
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