They Pay Me Just Enough
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
The culture adn management styles have brought this on more so then the individual being a lackie. The team is only as good as the leader. This will never change in a people business. We need to repsect each others position in a business to reach a common goal. The drive for corporation profits and returns for the share holder has killed the manager / worker relationship. Maybe someone has a cure for this but it will be a long pull to get that back into our coporate culture.
Granted times have changed, but that mentality gets people killed or injured.
For 30 plus years I’ve been aviation, that mind set sounds like what I have seen in most union workers (in & out of aviation).
For 18 plus years as a A&P mechanic, I was fortune enough to work where the airlines where non-union.
Human nature is to respond in kind…. that applies to both sides! With my being treated as a “thing” or an expendable item, I could repond with minimal output, negative attitude, and poor to marginal performance. THE ONLY thing to prevent that is personal respect, love for the work, and personal integrity!
Intergrity in the “soul” says, “No matter what anyone else does, I will not respond, I will be who and what I am: I am a skilled, trained, intelligent person who does what they cannot, and I will be the best I can no matter what anyone else does!” Without that, we personally lower ourselves to minimal existance and no one has anything to gain from that. In most cases, I’ve been there 3 times, union and management create a semi-hostile environment - both are deeply at fault for this too! How sad, it destroys good people on both sides.
27 years as an A&P in commuter, major and corporate environment (including GA) and I’ve learned that, if nothing else, you have to love your job. If you don’t then you need to move on. I love my job because It meets my personal and professional needs and requirements. When that stopped happening in the past, I sought out other employment. Everything changes and you have to be prepared for that. Being paid just enough to do just enough is a bullshit attitude and smacks of my days at the major airline.
I work for the US Governments largest contractor and here like most place’s they don’t want experience around anymore because of the pay. They would rather let you go and hire someone straight out of college with no experience and pay him nothing, then they wonder why they are behind on there contracts and deliverables. So why should you bust your behind knowing that you could be gone at any moment.
What was described is a typical labor union attitude and it hasn’t changed in 100 years. What each AMT needs is the feeling of a job well done, despite the union mediocrity message. This is found in the corporate and executive charter aviation world, where skills and knowledge are highly valued and well-paid. Labor unions + seniority, with skill levels taking second place. Unions have led the way to off-shoring of maintenance work and are directly to blame for the loss of airline major maintenance facilities. A craft union like ALPA is like a guild and fosters the professionalism of its members, whereas labor unions are really not a good fit for skilled and licensed professionals. Airline mechanics long ago made the unwise decision to join labor, rather than craft unions. We are now reaping what we have sown.
In 30 years in the business, and approaching retirement, I have noted that while unions and unionized environments are far from perfect, in the long run, my colleagues that have worked consistently in a unionized shop are better off. I have worked union & non-union, union local VP & company management. I have noted most companies that have unions are getting what they deserve, and if it was not for the unions at those companies, their employees would be very poorly off in all respects. I have worked by butt off to be professional, and get ahead. I am now past the point of that. I am tired of making things work in spite of incompetent management. Now they reap what they sow, bad policies & directives = bad results. As for my job performance, the aircraft won’t fly under my signature unless they meet the regs minimum requirements, but like everything, you only get what you pay for.
I know exactly what that guy is talking about. But just because the quantity of work might be lacking does not mean the quality is not there.
It is hard for some people to be enthused about their jobs when they take pay cuts, lose pensions and watch their work being performed by someone else.
In today’s economy it might be hard to quit and find any kind of job.
Sounds too familiar! My whole life I strived to be the best that’s who I am. After working as an A&P for 10 years I finaly made to the big time (UAL). I never worked with such a talented group of people who worked so hard and were treated so badly. Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ll never work as an A&P again its now only my hobbie!
I turned my back on it and have found something better.
Relentless competition and outsourcing are driving wages down and the labor force away.
40 years turning a wrench. 30 for the military and 10 for airlines. The military had its ups and downs, but I always felt like a part of the team. The airlines made me feel like I was just a cog in a vast machine.
and to think that that’s the generation that will be working in the nursing home i will be staying. play hard, die young, and stay out of the medical system……
I fought off that attitude until the execs at nwa demanded I take it. If you care you get sand pounded up your rear but you do care and they know it. I read the comments of corporate jet mechs as if they know, they’re so close to the corporate nipple they’ll agree to anything. Thats not to say they don’t work hard they just know where it is they have to kiss, which I can understand, just think how fast they would be gotten rid of if they didn’t conform.
The only way to understand the life of an Aviation Maintenance Technician is to have lived it. Over the past ten years management across the board have cut pay and benefits to a point that garbage men make more then an aircraft technician. Auto mechanics make more then the technician that just repaired the landing gear on a 747 aircraft. Most of the worked preformed on an aircraft is at night when passenger don’t fly. The shortage of technicians in the field is growing fast, all one has to do is the math, number of students coming from A&P schools to the number of technicians leaving the industry. This is no longer a proud profession but one that has been beaten down to a point that leaving the industry is the only optician. During an aircraft overhaul workers that are not able to read or speak English try to repair aircraft. The FAA ignores this and managers are making statements like our aircraft are safe we have not had a major aircraft crash in a long time. They ignore the fact that the number of accidents on the ground have grown. This math is simple more ground accidents the greater the chance of it in the air. When this happens like it has happened in the past, a company’s recovery is in trouble. I have instructed my son he is not to go into aviation for any reason. As for Me this is the only job I know and I am good at it. I do my best for me so I can sleep at night. A big crash is coming soon I can only pray for the families that will be affected. When you look at the grieving families and wonder who could do such a thing just look in the mirror we are all to blame.
The problem is that your job has a lot more portability than most people do…..and the management knows it. As long as maintenance is considered a “cost”, instead of a “profit center”, don’t expect much to change. Thus the global “job shopping” looking for the lowest-buck labor they can find.
This won’t be a problem, until it IS a problem (and you know what I’m talking about)…..then look for the typical knee-jerk reactions from management/the Feds/etc. Everyone I know has been seeing this coming for years, but no matter….the flying public expects to be able to fly any given trip for less than the cost of driving the same trip, so I guess they will get what they want to pay for.
My current plan to deal with the new “paradigm” is to diversify my experience/training, and to make myself as portable as the job. When my kids are out of school in a couple of years, I’m outta here……
When I received my A&P 30 years ago I faced a choice; join the airlines or go to GA. I chose against being pigeon-holed and restricted by a union job and selected a low paying entry-level job working on “bugsmashers”. I have always worked hard, tried to learn wherever I could, and gave my best no matter what. I have never had to look for a job, as I advanced I was sought out by my next employer. I have worked as a floor mechanic in small repair stations; a field tech for an OEM; a partner in a quality repair station; manager, sales, and field rep for a major MRO organiztion. I have had great bosses and I have had horrible bosses. The only thing I can control is how good a job I (capital i) do. Instead of whining about a bad situation, I’ve kept my ear to the ground for new situations. Granted, we all think we don’t get paid commensurate with the responsiblilty we shoulder, but if it’s that bad, get another job, no, get another career, please. I notice most of the whining is from airline mechanics. I’m sorry, but if you chose to go to work with a labor union, you got exactly what you wanted. THAT ought to bring some comments!
Think about all of those thousands of people that whent to A&P school that never got a decent job offer and stayed out of the industry. Can you imagine what it must have been like, well now you know. Just do what they did so many years ago, find something else. This doesnt apply to me because I made it to a major and left at the top, changed careers an never had to take a pay cut. No complaints here.
First, an A&P since 1972. I have worked on “bug smashers” to heavies and systems older than me to the latest advanced microchip robots. Business I have worked for are general aviation, fly by night air cargo, jet charter, military, and last as customer tech’ inspector at major OEM. Second, I think it is the best “career” there is. My pay was at times lower than a grocery stock clerk. Third, and last, sometimes people make comments to stranger’s to make them go away, and usually a “quick comment that perceived as ‘interesting” is the one given. If a “stranger” came up to me and asks me a question that I believe is personnel, I “will not” tell that individual anything of importance to me. Anyone, who does not understand that, is not an individual I would like to be around. People have a poor understand of communication and most think they can walk up to someone and immediately converse with them on their innermost thoughts. These people are “Fools”. Those who quote them are either Idiots or Professionals, but I repeat myself.
I work for a very successful airline in North America. We have had record quarter after record quarter. My co-workers and I watch in dismay as every salary band and department except ours get raises year after year. The latest is a 1% insult. It seems the further you are from the aircraft, the more you make. It has become obvious that no matter how hard you work to make the company successful they will NEVER compensate you for that effort, and that all companies in aviation (big and small) are the same when dealing with maintenance. They don’t pay me enough to stay, only wish I hadn’t wasted so much time in this industry.