AMTonline Blogs

This morning is the last day of NBAA. It has been an exciting show. There are tens of thousands of attendees walking the aisles of the Atlanta convention center, seeing all the latest business aviation products and services.

As expected, the hot topic at the show has been user fees. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the FAA reauthorization bill last week without user fee provisions. Instead, it uses an increase in fuel taxes to provide increased revenue for the FAA to upgrade the nations air traffic control system. The Senate is expected to pass its version soon, which will probably incorporate a user fee provision. The bills will then go to conference between the House and Senate to iron out differences and present the modified bill to both the House and Senate. Then it is off to the President for approval.

The Air Transport Association (ATA) is not happy about the House version. It is lobbying strongly to have a user fee-based funding system, saying it is time for private jets to pay their fair shair of the nations air traffic control system. NBAA and other general aviation associations say airlines are the cause for the congestion at the nation’s airports, not general aviation. Those associations continue the lobbying effort against user fees, pushing for a modest increase in fuel taxes as a more equitable way to increase funding.

So, what are your thoughts on user fees? How do you feel user fees would affect the industry, and specifically general aviation maintenance jobs?

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

I just got an alert from an aviation association urging me to call my member of Congress “as soon as possible” and ask that they oppose the Poe amendment when it comes up for debate today.

Here is the text of the alert:

OPPOSE POE AMENDMENT TO SHUT DOWN THIRD-PARTY REPAIR STATIONS!

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled this morning to begin debate on H.R. 2881, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2007. During the course of the debate, several amendments will be offered by Members of Congress, including one that could essentially prevent the use of all third-party maintenance facilities overseas.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) will offer an amendment that would extend drug and alcohol testing requirements to all foreign repair stations. The amendment, supported by airline maintenance labor unions, is a thinly veiled attempt to eliminate competition from all foreign third-party maintenance providers on commercial aircraft abroad. The United States lacks the legal authority to impose such requirements on the citizens of foreign countries, and many nations are firmly opposed to mandatory drug and alcohol testing programs. As a result, this amendment, if approved, would effectively eliminate the ability of air carriers to obtain third-party maintenance overseas. Furthermore, the imposition of such drug and alcohol testing programs could lead to restriction on trade with other countries, significantly damaging the aviation industry in the United States.

Call your Member of Congress as soon as possible and ask that they oppose the Poe amendment when it comes up for debate today! Explain that this amendment is a backdoor attempt to restrict and shut down third-party maintenance at foreign facilities for both commercial and general aviation, and has little to do with actually improving aviation safety. There are no identified safety issues with such repair stations, and this amendment will only lead to increased maintenance costs.

Maybe it’s just me, but how is making foreign repair stations comply with the same drug and alcohol testing our domestic repair stations are required to follow by a bad thing? It’s not like we are trying to change the foreign government’s laws or sovereignty. We are just saying, “If you want to work on U.S. type-certificated aircraft, and want to receive an FAA repair station certificate, you need to have a drug and alcohol testing program in place.” No testing program, no certificate.

Instead of looking at how this amendment could potentially hurt foreign repair stations, why not consider how it will help level the playing field? Domestic repair stations need to have drug and alcohol testing in place — why shouldn’t foreign repair stations?

And finally, if performing drug and alcohol testing on mechanics who inspect, repair, and maintain our nation’s fleet of commercial aircraft has “little to do with actually improving aviation safety,” why not just do away with all drug and alcohol testing requirements?

One way or the other, isn’t it time to level the playing field?

If you want to let your voice be heard, be sure to call your representative! Let him or her know how you feel about the Poe Amendment to H.R. 2881.

To see the status of H.R. 2881, click here.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

The AMT staff will be in Atlanta, Georgia next week covering the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) annual conference and trade show.

If you are going to be at the show, be sure to stop by the Cygnus Business Media booth (5426) and visit with us. While at the show, I will be covering press conferences and meeting with attendees and exhibitors in order to seek out new products and services for aircraft mechanics. So, if I’m not at our booth when you stop by, don’t fret. You can just leave a message for me with a cell phone number, and I can contact you when I get the message.

If you get a chance, please take some time to stop by our booth. I would like to meet with as many readers as possible during the show and get feedback on AMT magazine, AMTSociety, and any industry issues that you are concerned about.

Not going to NBAA next week? Well, you can still keep up with what is going on at the show. I will be doing multiple Blog postings from the show, and we will also be updating the industry news section of our website with NBAA-related news releases. So even if you won’t be in Atlanta, you can still keep up with the news and information from NBAA by logging on to www.AMTonline.com on a frequent basis.

Thanks for reading! See you at NBAA (or on AMTonline.com) next week!

Joe Escobar

For the fifth straight year, our friends at RAPCO and RAPCO Fleet Support are giving away a new Dell computer to a lucky AMT reader. This year, it could be you!

But you have to do a little work to win the computer. You see, RAPCO wants AMT readers to submit photos of aircraft that RAPCO can use in its 2008 calendar. A panel of judges from AMT and RAPCO will review submitted photos and pick a photo to be featured each month. Of those 12 photos, one will be chosen as the winner and will appear on the cover of the calendar, and the shutterbug who submitted it will receive a new computer. It’s that easy.

The entry form for the contest will be in the next issue of AMT and will be available soon on AMTonline.com. Keep an eye out for them.

Here are a few personal tips for taking photos that could win:

Photos taken in the morning and evening tend to be more dramatic, with more colors. If possible, avoid taking photos in the middle of the day.

You don’t always need to center the object you are shooting. In fact, photography coaches say to think in thirds. Divide your viewfinder by thirds vertically. Instead of having your subject in the middle, have it in one of the side thirds (the same can also go for horizontal thirds). This creates a more dramatic effect.

Shoot different angles. You are not limited to just one submission. So why not take multiple photos? Give the judges more options to choose from.

Shoot with a normal view if possible (not with the camera tilted). The calendar uses landscape layouts, and any vertical photos submitted would need to be cropped.

If you are shooting with a digital camera, use the highest resolution possible. There is no need to print the photo from a digital file — you will be able to send the file directly to us. We use 300 dpi resolution when producing the calendar, so we need to have high-res photos. If you are using film, you can mail your entry and we can scan the photo.

But my biggest tip would be to get out there and shoot some photos. After all, you can’t win if you don’t have photos to submit.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

Let’s imagine you are an aircraft mechanic in Nepal and are having technical problems with one of your Boeing 757 airplanes. You just can’t seem to get the problem fixed, and some flights have had to be suspended due to the problem. What do you do? Call your ace troubleshooter? Call Boeing technical services? Get a bigger hammer?

Well believe it or not, according to a news story that was published by Reuters yesterday, you get a goat. Two goats to be exact. You then take them out to the front of the aircraft and sacrifice them to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god.

According to the Reuters story, the airline has two Boeing aircraft and has had to suspend some flights in recent weeks due to a problem with one aircraft. The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal’s international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions.

Raju K.C., a senior airline official, says, “The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights.”

The news story goes on to say it is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

Sacrificing animals to fix an aircraft may seem strange to us, but it is a normal part of the Hindu culture. But I have to wonder – are sacrificial procedures incorporated into an airline’s operations manual? Also, how was that corrective action signed off in the logbook?

You can read the full story on Reuters here and a related AP story that was posted on AMTonline.com here.

Thanks for reading,

Joe