AMTonline Blogs

On October 5 of last year, a chemical fire erupted at the EQ Industrial Services plant in Apex, N.C., a city about 15 miles southwest of Raleigh. The massive fire destroyed the facility and forced the evacuation of 16,000 residents (about half the population of the city). About 30 people were treated for respiratory problems following the fire.

So, why am I writing about a fire that destroyed a plant in Apex, N.C. last year? Because the fire was aviation-related.

No, the fire wasn’t started by an airplane crashing into the building. Yesterday, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board stated that unspent oxygen generators (can you say ValuJet?) likely caused the rapid spread of the fire.

The Associated Press reports that Robert Hall, the board’s lead investigator into the fire at the EQ industrial plant, says at least 78 oxygen generators were found among the rubble of the fire. The board says Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc., an aircraft maintenance facility in Mobile, Alabama, placed the packaged, unspent generators in steel drums and shipped them to a hazardous waste facility in Birmingham, Alabama. The oxygen generators were then misidentified as general oxidizer waste and sent to Apex.

“Apparently this aircraft maintenance facility had forgotten the lessons of ValuJet about expending these things,” Hall said. “We’re concerned that there might be somebody else out there that’s not following the procedure. We have no knowledge of anybody out there, but we want to make sure this message is reiterated for the industry.”

The board issued an “urgent recommendation” — only the third it has ever released. “If these devices are out in the hazmat waste stream … we want to get the word out on that and make sure they are accounted for and expended before they’re put into the hazmat waste stream,” board member William B. Wark says.

It sure was a lot of destruction caused by some unspent expired oxygen generators.

To read the full story, click here.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

Most observers would note that airline Unions have been suffering from loss of membership and power — even more so in the last few years where strong-arming by the Airlines under the protection of bankruptcy has led to lost jobs and pay cuts.

Some are saying that the days of the Unions have passed, that they have lost the ability to effectively bargain with companies.

But that just may change.

The New York Times published an article on Tuesday, June 19 titled Clash Nears in the Senate on Legislation Helping Unions Organize. In it, Steven Greenhouse shares that Senate Democratic leaders moved to force a vote on organized labor’s top legislative priority — a bill that would make it far easier to organize workers. If the bill becomes law as currently written, employees at a workplace would be able to unionize as soon as they have a majority of signed cards saying they want to do so. Under current law, employers can insist on a secret ballot election, even after a majority of employees sign cards.

Union officials see passage of this bill as a vital step towards “reversing the decline in membership and might.” As can be expected, support in the Senate is split between party lines with Democrat leaders trying to push the legislation forward and Republican leaders vowing to kill the measure.

So, what do you think of the proposal? Is it a step in the right direction? Can it help bring strength back to organized labor? Or, have the days of Union strength come and gone.

We welcome your feedback.

To read the full text of the article, click here.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

Yesterday, an industry executive made the call to reduce the cost of training for airline pilots and mechanics. She said, “New planes will require more than 18,000 new pilots every year — 360,000 pilots over the next 20 years – on average, through 2025 as well as 480,000 new mechanics during that period of time.” She added, “As the need for training continues to rise, we must, as an industry, find a way to lower the costs.”

So, who was the executive making those strong statements? An airline executive? The director of a large corporate flight department? The president of a trade union?

Actually, it was the president of Alteon, Sherry Carbary. That’s right, Alteon Training company! The statements were made in her keynote speech at the World Aviation Training Symposium and Tradeshow (WATS).

Those are pretty strong statements. Even more so considering Carbary was making those statements in front of a group of her peers – other aviation training companies.

So, what do you think? Do you think the cost of maintenance training is too much? Or, do you consider the cost in line with the value you get for that training? Share your thoughts with us.

To read the full story as reported by Aero-News.net, click here.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

Our annual Maximizing your Career Choice issue is just around the corner. The August issue, which we are already working on, will provide tips on getting the most out of a career in aircraft maintenance.

Working on this issue always gets me thinking about careers in aircraft maintenance even more than I normally do. On a personal level, aircraft maintenance has been good to me. I have had the opportunity to work for some good companies and have had ample career advancement opportunities along the way.

But I don’t pretend it is that way everywhere. These are some tough times for some areas of aircraft maintenance — namely at the airlines. Aircraft maintenance professionals there have gone through a tough six years of job cuts, wage concessions, and increased stress. Many have left the industry for good, tired of the cyclic economic swings in the industry. It seems to be feast or famine, and many are tired of the long stretches of famine. To be honest, it may be a long time, until there is another feast. It looks like a long-term crash diet is the trend. Even though many airlines have soared back to profitability and exited bankruptcy, they seem hesitant to give back to the employees who agreed to pay reductions and job cuts during the tough times.

At the same time, other areas of the industry are growing. If you look at general aviation, repair stations, and corporate flight departments, the buzzword seems to be “shortage.” Managers at these facilities will tell you that they are having a hard time finding qualified mechanics and avionics technicians to fill job openings. This shortage has led to higher wage and incentive packages in order to attract the quality workers they are looking for.

So how has the recent economic cycle affected you? Do you feel there is a good opportunity for growth and advancement in your company, or in aircraft maintenance in general?

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar