AMTonline Blogs

Today, instead of prognosticating the future of Southwest Airlines as it is caught up in a public relations nightmare surrounding last week’s record $10.2 million by the FAA for failing to inspect some of its aircraft last year, or discussing the ongoing drama that is unfolding in the mainstream media and their coverage of the issue, I thought I’d cover another aviation news story that caught my attention this week. It involves two Italian women, a dead body and airport security. Here’s a one-question multiple-choice quiz for you:

Question: Two Italian women are stopped by airport security in Germany after security agents spot evidence of human remains in a suitcase passing through an X-ray machine. What happens next?

A. The agents allow the women to board their next flight after the women show security agents a death certificate for the body in the suitcase.

B. Gunther von Hagens contacts the women and asks if they would like to donate the human remains to be part of his Body World exhibit.

C. The women are arrested and charged with two counts of mutilation and one count of illegal transportation of a corpse.

To read the news story that prompted this quiz and find out how you did, click here.

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

As I write this blog, Aviation Industry Expo one week away. This event promises to be a great opportunity for aircraft maintenance professionals to see the latest products and services, attend technical seminars and have a little fun.

Yes, we have several opportunities next week to have some fun while raising funds for a good cause. First off, there is AMTSociety’s golf tournament next Monday, March 17. What a fun way to spend St. Patrick’s day — hitting the green for some fun and networking! Although I am a scratch golfer (I scratch my head every time I hit the ball, trying to figure out where it went), I won’t be golfing. I’ll be riding around with the beer girl on the beer cart, taking photos and chatting with the participants. I know, it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. All proceeds will benefit AMTSociety’s AMTScholarship fund.

Not a golfer? Don’t fret. The next night, Southwest Airframe and Tank (SWAT) will be hosting a Texas Hold ‘em tournament. A $50 buy-in gets you a seat at one of the poker tables. Food and drinks are included, and plenty of prizes will be awarded. SWAT will donate the proceeds from this tournament to AMTSociety’s AMTScholarship program.

I have already reserved my space in the poker tournament, and have even bought some sunglasses so I can look like I know what I am doing at the table.

Information for the golf tournament, the Texas Hold ‘em tournament, and all of the events going on at the show can be found on www.amtsociety.org and www.aviationindustryexpo.com.

See you in Dallas!

Joe Escobar

If United Airlines has its way, there could be almost 4,500 mechanics in the San Francisco area looking for work in the future. United closed its Indy maintenance facility a few years ago. Now it is considering closing its SFO base and outsourcing the work (the airline already outsources 46 percent of its maintenance).

Editor’s Note: Shortly after this blog was originally posted, AMT spoke with a United spokesperson who says the airline has no intention of closing its SFO maintenance base. See comment below. je

The Teamsters, along with mechanics and politicians, are fighting to keep the jobs in the area. They may be fighting an uphill battle.

More and more airlines are outsourcing more and more of their maintenance. The trend continues with no turnaround in sight.

It is pretty clear we are witnessing a major shift in the way airlines run their businesses. They are fiercely focused on flying passengers from point A to point B at the most cost-effective price, period. They are more focused on controlling costs of maintenance than controlling the maintenance that is performed. They are more concerned with offsetting fuel prices than with customer satisfaction.

But we can’t put all the blame on the airlines. Their decisions are based on evolving customer demands. Gone are the days of customer brand loyalty. Nowadays, the flying public will switch airlines quicker than Hollywood celebrities switch rehab centers just to save a few bucks.

Most of us have witnessed similar change in business models with service stations. Up until the early 70’s, there was no such thing as a self-service gas station. When you pulled into a gas station, you not only got a full tank of gas, you had the fluids checked in your vehicle, tire pressures checked and your windshield cleaned — all without having to step out of the vehicle. Service stations had their own mechanics on staff, ready to work on your car at a moment’s notice.

Now fast forward to almost 40 years later. Full service stations are mostly a thing of the past. You now have convenience stores. The cost (and convenience) of having service attendants on duty has been done away with. Now, you fill up your own car. You don’t even have to bother the cashier, you can swipe your credit card and pay at the pump. Things have changed quite a bit in those 40 years.

Think about some of the changes the airlines have already made.

Passengers book their own tickets online. Want to talk to a live person? That’ll cost you extra, and you’ll probably be talking to someone in India.

Meals have been done away with for most domestic flights. Some offer a limited amount of meals — for a price.

Want to check luggage? On some airlines it better be just one bag. More than one? That’ll cost extra.

So, what will the airline maintenance landscape look like in 40 years? There is no question — the aircraft the airlines operate will still need to be inspected and maintained. But how and where will that happen?

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

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

This blog falls into the “What the heck are they thinking?” category.

Last April, I wrote about a couple of idiots who smuggled guns and drugs on a flight. That incident caused the TSA, Congress and airline representatives to discuss whether or not airline employees should be subjected to the same screening as the general public is. You can read that blog here.

Apparently, some people think that is the case. H.R. 1413, a bill sponsored by Congresswoman Nita Lowey, a Democrat from New York, passed the House last month. In summary, the bill:

Directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to: (1) implement a pilot program at five commercial service airports to screen all airport workers with access to sterile areas of the airport; and (2) conduct a vulnerability assessment of each airport participating in such program.

Requires: (1) at least two of the participating airports to be large hub airports, with each of the remaining airports representing a different airport security risk category; (2) screening to be conducted under the same standards as apply to passengers at airport security screening checkpoints and to be carried out by private screeners at a designated screening lane for their exclusive use at a minimum of two airports; (3) the program to be carried out for not less than 180 days; and (4) each participating airport operator to conduct an assessment of the screening technology used at the airport and to submit the results to the Assistant Secretary.

There is a related bill that was introduced in the Senate last April (S. 1095: Airport Security Enhancement Act of 2007) that would:

Amend passenger and property screening provisions to require the screening by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel of: (1) air carrier employees that board a passenger aircraft; and (2) as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of certain airport perimeter screening provisions, airport and air carrier employees, contractors, and vendors before entry into a secured area of an airport in the United States.

Requires the heads of specified hub airports and nonhub airports to: (1) submit to the Administrator of TSA a plan for comprehensive screening of all individuals entering a secure area of an airport; and (2) implement the comprehensive screening plan not later than 60 days after its submission.

Maybe it’s just me, but how do you screen airline employees to the same standards as apply to passengers at airport security screening checkpoints? Do we now have to pack lunches with little 3-ounce bottles of juice that can all fit in a quart-size bag? What about purchasing new tools? How do we get a screwdriver, wrench, or other tool to work? I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Lets just hope that if the H.R. 1413 passes, the assessments of the trial security screenings will show that such a program is not feasible.

What are your thoughts? Do we need to suck it up and be subjected to security screening to protect the flying public from possible terrorist attacks? Is the government overreacting?

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar

As the editor in chief of AMT, I receive all sorts of press releases. Some of them aren’t related to aircraft maintenance, but they are still pitched as containing “relevant and important information” for our readers.

I received one of those press releases last week.

People say time flies when you are having fun. Well I guess we need to change the saying to, “Time flies when the universe expands.”

Enjoy,

Joe

Photon Energy to Peak in 2012 

She says that people are finding there aren’t enough hours in the day because of something called the “Photon Energy” which peaks in 2012. “No, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s going to feel like it to many.” Who is she? Her name is Margaret McElroy, or Margaret M as she is known. An Australian now living in Seattle with her husband Alan, Margaret says “The Photon Energy is causing so many problems for people all around the world. We think there are 24 hours in the day, but really there are only about 6–8. So many people don’t have the time to do the things they plan each day. They go to the bank and, before they know it, it’s lunchtime. One more appointment when they should have had two or three, and it’s time for dinner!” 

Scientists have long recognized that the Universe has been growing larger since its origin 13.7 billion years ago, but it was assumed the expansion should be slowing down due to the pull of gravity. In 1998, two teams of astrophysicists discovered that the expansion is actually speeding up. Scientists call it the “Dark Energy” because they have absolutely no clue as to what it is. Margaret said her friends in the world of spirit have told her it is called “Photon Energy,” a band of energy traveling the Universe that is speeding everything up.

Margaret also says the Photon Energy is causing many problems in the world today. It is compressing time, pressuring people, causing road rage, and bringing a lot of anger out. Metaphysically, it is designed to do just that – to bring out of humanity all the trapped energy that the majority on the Earth plane have, not only from this lifetime, but – as Margaret says – from previous lives. Margaret is renowned around the world for her accurate past-life readings both on radio and in person that tie in with people’s lives today. She is uncannily accurate if one listens to the radio show “The Sixth Sense” which is broadcast on WARM FM 106.9 HD3 in Seattle, KCAA 1050 AM in San Bernardino, California, and also streamed and archived on www.contacttalkradio.com and www.kcaaradio.com. As soon as Margaret hears a person’s voice she tunes in to their energy and hones into a past life and the problem it is causing in their life today. 

“If people understood the Photon Energy, many of them would feel better about their lives instead of thinking there is something wrong with them because they do not have enough hours in the day. I am not a scientist,” Margaret says, “but I do have the metaphysical reason for the phenomenon and, for those who have discovered what it is, it has created a great deal of relief in their lives.” 

Reuters is reporting that this past Tuesday, Chinese inspectors found eight mice (dead and alive) on a United Airlines aircraft. The airline had reported the unwelcome stowaways to local quarantine officials upon landing in Beijing Sunday after a flight from Washington, D.C.

The report prompted an “emergency team” to rush the aircraft to put rat poison and mouse traps at every possible corner of the aircraft including the cockpit. The inspectors said that eight mice were found (dead and alive) hidden in pillows onboard the aircraft.

As would be expected, the media had a field day talking about the dozens of fatal viruses that the mice can spread and the risk posed from mice chewing through aircraft wiring and circuits.

In a statement, United Airlines said, “We are taking this matter seriously and have begun a full investigation with the authorities to determine how this happened and ensure it is resolved.”

I have been to Washington, D.C. before, and I can’t help but think that the passengers of that flight are lucky that it was mice that snuck onboard the flight and not some of those huge rats that scurry around D.C. at night. 

You can read the entire Reuters article here.

Thanks for reading.

Joe Escobar