Seems Qantas has hired Newport Aviation to recruit highly trained licensed aircraft maintenance engineers. Fixed-term casual positions pay $2,308 a week with the possibility of a $40,000 completion bonus.

Today, Qantas engineers cancelled plans to strike tomorrow. The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) had been calling for a 5 percent wage increase per year while the airline has steadfastly refused to budge on its 3 percent offer. Today the union said the association would accept a rise of between 3 and 5 percent.

Earlier today, Chief Executive Geoff Dixon refused to rule out the use of strike breakers if negotiations again falter. One would hope negotiations will prevail.

 If you went through the Northwest strike what would you say to Qantas maintenance engineers? What would you say to Dixon?

For the newspaper article click here
http://business.smh.com.au/qantas-prepares-to-smash-strike-20080514-2eat.html

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke

Managing Editor

US Airways cut 10 routes from its Las Vegas hub effective Aug. 19.

American Airlines says it will stop serving Oakland International Airport.

JetBlue is looking at shorter flights instead of focusing on long-haul flights.

What is your company doing to compensate for financial losses? Are you forming new alliances within the industry? Selling assets? Raising prices for services? Is the focus on the customer or the bottom line? We’d like to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

• Group net profits increased 54.1 percent to $1.45 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2008, on revenues of $11.2 billion compared to the previous year’s $8.5 billion.

• The Group net margin improved to 13.2 percent from 11.4 percent in the previous year.

• Emirates will pay a dividend of $272.5 million to its owner, the Government of Dubai.

• In 2007-08, the Group estimates a direct contribution of $6 billion, and another $6.8 billion in indirect contribution to the UAE economy.

It claims its success is based on ongoing investments in the latest technology, products, and customer service while keeping a tight rein on costs.

And it doesn’t plan on resting on its laurels but plans on continuing to provide its customers with the high quality experience that they have come to expect.

It’s the same with AMT. Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke

• Play. Have fun and create energy at home and at the office.
• Make their day. Engage fellow employees and customers and make each other’s day.
• Be Present. Be fully available and aware during conversations with people. It is about creating a greater sense of intimacy between individuals.
• Choose Your Attitude. Each day you choose how you are going to act (which “side of the bed” you will wake up on). The choice is yours and, the way you act affects others.

In order to truly create positive energy and workplace fun, everyone from the top down needs to buy in to the Fish concepts.

If that happens, even the “worst” job you could have like working in a fish market, working on the ramp in sub-zero temperatures or 100+ degrees, or dealing with a heavy workload can seem like the best job in the world.

If it doesn’t happen, then working in the “best” job you could ever have can still seem like just a thankless job working around slimy, stinky fish — like working in a toxic energy dump.

I have seen plenty of aircraft maintenance companies where the employees are happy at work. They have strong, engaged leaders that foster a positive work culture. Employees there work their hind ends off, and are happy.

I have also seen quite a few toxic energy dumps. The mechanics there are disgruntled and unhappy. Productivity suffers. Turnover is high.

What kind of work environment are you working in?

Thanks for reading.

Joe Escobar

As the newly appointed aviation “czar,” Kennington-Gardiner will coordinate regional airspace issues and all projects and initiatives addressing problems of congestion and delays in New York.

The news release can be read here.

Dictionary.com defines a czar as any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field: a czar of industry.

So, what’s the message being sent? If you really want something done, you appoint a czar?

Heck, while the DOT is in a czar appointing mind-frame, how about another czar appointment? We could call him or her the Level Playing Field Czar. This person would be responsible for ensuring all maintenance facilities are allowed to do business on a level playing field. This czar could begin by addressing the lack of drug and alcohol testing requirements for foreign repair stations.

If you could appoint a czar to spearhead an important industry initiative, what would the new czar’s title and job description be?

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar, Editorial Czar

AMT and AMTonline.com

The Southwest Airlines inspection fiasco from a few weeks ago has led to Congressional hearings on airline safety that kick off today. Since the Southwest incident, Delta, American, and now United have canceled flights as they have been caught in their own inspection quagmires.

Aloha Airlines declared bankruptcy and stopped flying as of this past Tuesday. ATA announced today it has ceased all flights as it files for bankruptcy.

We have seen the airlines keep fees artificially low for years, choosing other ways (like outsourcing maintenance) to save money. If one airline raised fares, the others would normally stay low, resulting in a loss of customers for that airline. After all, the general public has changed from brand-loyal to cost-conscious customers.

I compared it last year to the airlines all bleeding money, with airlines posting losses in the millions for quarter after quarter. But no one wanted to stitch their own wounds. Seems they wanted to wait until some of their competitors died of blood loss. Then they could mend their own wounds and take business from their dead competitors.

Well, the funeral procession may have just begun. Can you hear the dirges in the background?

And lets not forget the FAA. It is part of the Congressional hearings that are taking place today, with current and former FAA inspectors testifying that the FAA has become too cozy with the airlines they are supposed to regulate. 

John Nance even came on Good Morning America this morning saying that the FAA has become ineffective and most inspectors are focused on retiring and not on doing their jobs. He suggested that to fix the problem, we need to do away with the FAA, get rid of every FAA employee, and start all over again with a new regulatory agency.

Kind of an extreme solution…isn’t it?

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

During the course of the seminar, an FAA representative discussed how the FAA and the aviation community need to get past the “blame game” of the past, and move forward towards a safety culture where the FAA and industry work together to identify risks and develop an even safer aviation system. He encouraged more sharing of incident and accident information between industry and the FAA.

Maybe it’s just me, but how can the FAA be both a regulator, an enforcer of the rules, and a safety partner at the same time? Aren’t the two mutually exclusive? The FAA can either focus on regulatory enforcement and oversight, or on carrying the torch of SMS. I don’t believe it can do both.

Take Southwest Airlines for example. The airline self-disclosed that it had missed some inspections. A true SMS attitude would have taken that information, figured out the root cause of the missed inspections, and implemented corrective actions to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.

Instead the blame game attitude prevailed, and a $10.2 million fine was imposed on Southwest.

If I were an airline and saw what happened to Southwest, why on earth would I want to self-disclose any information to the FAA? And without the airlines and aviation companies self-disclosing information, an effective SMS system is only a pipe dream.

What do you think? The FAA — enforcer or safety champion?

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar

Next week, we will be working on the April issue of AMT, where we will have expanded coverage and highlights of from the show including:

• The first annual AMTSociety golf tournament. The tournament was a big success, and raised around $3,500 dollars for the AMTScholarship program. (Thank you to the Haggan Aviation team for doing such a great job coordinating the tournament.)
• The first annual S.W.A.T. Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament benefitting the AMTScholarship program. (Yours truly made it to the final table!)
• Winners of the FAA AMT Awards program prize drawing.
• Winners of the AMTSociety fundraising drawing. (One lucky winner won a Snap-On toolbox!)

Stay tuned for more news on AMTonline.com as well.

Thanks for reading,

Joe

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

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