AMTonline Blogs

The AMT team was in Houston this past Sunday through Tuesday attending HAI’s HeliExpo trade show. The trade show floor was buzzing with activity (HAI announced that it broke previous exhibitor and attendance records).

I spent the first day of the show attending press conferences and seminars. As I was looking over the schedule in the morning to decide which press conferences and sessions I would be able to attend, two sessions stood out. The first was titled Maintenance Director’s Forum, and would address regulatory issues affecting maintenance personnel including avionics, field approvals, and current issues. Sarah MacLeod, Executive Director and Marshall Filler, Managing Director and General consul, of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), and Ed DiCampli, HAI’s Executive Vice President would lead the discussions.

The session was hosted in a room that could easily accommodate two hundred attendees. If you didn’t count journalists (myself), consultants (Richard Komarniski from Grey Owl Aviation), and associations (me, Brian Finnegan, Director, Professional Certification, SAE Institute and Clark Gordon, Chairman, PAMA), there were not two hundred. There weren’t even one hundred. There were two. And both of them were from the same company. So the eight of us pulled our chairs in a circle and had a nice two-hour discussion on industry issues. It turned out to be a great discussion.

The second seminar I had on my list was a session titled Maintenance Techs’ Mentoring Program. The program said that in this session, “a panel of top industry experts would share their experiences and expertise with individuals attending or just completing training, maintenance technicians already in the industry looking to pick up valuable information from seasoned professionals, and students considering a career as a maintenance technician.”

Across the hall at the same time as the Maintenance Techs’ Mentoring Program was a similar session for pilots titled Pilots’ Mentoring Program. As I passed that room, the room (that could probably accommodate around 80 people) was full and had people standing around the room. 

I walked into the maintenance room and met four maintenance students, all from the same school in Pittsburgh. So we pulled our chairs together in the large room and had a great discussion. The students present asked plenty of great questions and soaked up a lot of information from the maintenance veterans in the room .

As I sat in the second session, I couldn’t help but think if it was a sign of things to come. A room full of student pilots in one room wanting to pick the brains of those that have risen through the ranks, and a room right across the hall with four student mechanics taking advantage of the same opportunity to learn from industry veterans.

It was disappointing to say the least.

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

I have had a few calls and e-mails the past few weeks regarding IA renewals, so I want to start off this week’s posting by giving my fellow IAs a friendly reminder — the March 31 deadline for completing your IA recurrency requirements is fast approaching. Remember — the FAA revised the requirement for renewing our IA certificate to once every two years. NOTHING changed in regards to our annual recurrency requirements. We still need to meet those annual requirements by March 31 of this year. Then between April 1 and March 31 of next year, we need to meet another year’s annual recurrency requirements and go into our local FAA office and have them renew our certificate. For those that continue to practice their IA responsibilities after March 31 without meeting recurrency requirements, they will be in violation of the FARs and subject to FAA disciplinary action. You can reference FAR 65.93 to review IA renewal requirements.

Now for the meat and potatoes of today’s blog. It has to do with the future of aircraft maintenance. Many of you take time to comment on this blog, and I appreciate your participation in this public forum. One of my most replied-to postings in the two years I have been blogging was “Future of Aircraft Maintenance?” from November 2006. To date it has received 52 comments. In that posting I asked, “What can we do to help recruit more youth to pursue aircraft maintenance as a career? What can we do as aircraft maintenance professionals to help raise the interest level in aircraft maintenance?”

Well I got just about every sort of response from very positive to negative. It reminds me of a comment we received from a reader four years ago in response to a salary survey question. He said, “Don’t become an aircraft mechanic — A piano player in a whorehouse gets more respect than we do!”

Reading the ongoing responses to that blog, it is evident that quite a few readers are fed up with the industry.

Here’s today’s question. For those of you that are fed up with the industry, are considering leaving the aircraft maintenance career field, or for those that have already left, what would it take to change your attitude? Money? Respect? Job conditions? Working hours? Advancement opportunities? I don’t necessarily want to hear why the industry is bad. I want to know what it would take to change your attitude — what changes would it take to satisfy your career goals and aspirations?

I am not just soliciting feedback from those fed up with the industry. If you are happy with your job situation, let us know why. What makes your job fun? What motivates you and pushes you to excel? Why do you find your career choice rewarding?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Joe Escobar

I was reading an article that appeared in Tulsa World yesterday. The article discusses AMTSociety, some of the efforts that Ken MacTiernan and Dennis Hayes have made in promoting AMTSociety, and the upcoming Aviation Industry Expo March 18-20 in Dallas, Texas. Thanks to Tulsa World staff writer D.R. Stewart for recognizing aircraft maintenance professionals.

Amidst all of the praise and attention given to our craft in the article, there was a quote that stood out. An American Airlines mechanic said, “They pay me just enough not to quit, and I do just enough not to get fired.”

That sentence says a lot. As we are close to getting a national AMT Day resolution passed, and as we celebrate AMT Day in more than 40 U.S. states and territories, it is sad to see this attitude exists. I can’t imagine Charles E. Taylor saying, “The Wright Brothers pay me just enough not to quit, and I do just enough not to get fired.”

In generations past workers used to get a job and retire from that same company after years of dedicated service. They would respect the company, and were proud to work there. The company treated its employees like family.

Times have changed. Many companies now just treat employees as disposable assets. Employee attitudes have also changed, as witnessed in the quote in the article. Jobs are no longer a source of pride or an opportunity for long-term employment and retirement. Instead, they are a stepping stone to the next opportunity, even if it is outside the aircraft maintenance environment.

Will this trend turn around? What do you think?

We’d like to hear your comments.

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

Her name is Major Lou Ann Rickley. Rickley recently retired from the United States Marine Corps after 30 years of blazing a trail of firsts. She became a legend in the Corps as the first female Harrier engine mechanic.

According to an article by Sgt. Michael T. Knight on the Marine Corps News website, Rickley joined the Marine Corps in 1977. She became an aircraft mechanic and soon realized it was her dream job when she landed with a Harrier unit — Marine Attack Squadron 513 Flying Nightmares. There she became the first female qualified as a plane captain on the AV-8A Harrier. Rickley says, “I suspected that the Corps made a mistake by assigning me to this unit because it was a deployable unit and females were not yet allowed to deploy.”

But Rickley overcame that and many other obstacles as she advanced in her military career. In 1986, she graduated drill instructor school and became a senior drill Instructor after one training cycle. Before leaving Parris Island, she was promoted to gunnery sergeant and was the first to fill a newly established position of Series Chief Drill Instructor, 4th Recruit Training Battalion.

While stationed at Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, CA, Rickley was selected to become one of only two female Warrant Officers  in the Marine Corps.

As a Chief Warrant Officer, Rickley applied for the Limited Duty Officer program and was the only aircraft maintenance officer selected and promoted to Captain in 1999. That same year, she was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 to turn the unit around (the unit had failed its maintenance inspection). Within eight months, she dismantled the unit and rebuilt it the right way. It passed its next inspection with flying colors.

We wish Rickley the best in the next phase of her professional life.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Thanks for reading.

Joe Escobar