A Word For Our Mechanics

[BoeingBoy]

Excerpted from an Aviation Week and Space Technology Article:

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He said the economic climate of the past two years has resulted in thousands of airline mechanics being furloughed, while many entry-level general aviation maintenance technicians receive substandard pay and are increasingly seeking employment outside of aviation. Although some mechanic schools have closed due to lack of enrollments, others are thriving.

But many graduates are being snapped up by automobile dealerships, theme park operators, elevator manufacturers and public utility companies that offer higher wages, more comprehensive benefit packages and better working conditions. In addition, the concern over liability issues is reduced significantly or eliminated altogether. Finnegan says labor rates in many general aviation shops are too low, in some cases lower than automobile dealerships.
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Article can be found here.

Jim

 

[E-TRONS]

The whole world has gone mad.

When mechanics in car dealerships can make more than FAA Certificated aircraft mechanics one must wonder......What the heck is going on here??

If your car breaks down you simply pull off to the side of the road. You make a call and a tow truck shows up and takes your car to the shop where they charge you a bunch of money to get you going again. Better for you if your car breaks down on a weekday before 5 pm. Otherwise you will be walking for the weekend.

What happens if your aircraft experiences a significant anomaly while at altitude? Sure you have the system redundancy to fall back on but what if the back up feature also fails due to shoddy maintenance?? For those of you having trouble with physics it's like this. Airplanes don't need any additional help in finding the ground!! Defying gravity is hard enough itself. That's why you want the most experienced hands working to keep the airplane in the sky .

And how do you do that?? Pay and benefits for starters. A good work atmosphere and employee relations also go a long way. These things lead to employee loyalty and longevity ultimately giving you a happy, experienced and comitted workforce. That's a formula for success.

So what do we get as aircraft mechanics??? We get shifts covering 24/7 @365 days a year? Midnight shift with Tuesday and Wednesday off?? Working in all sorts of weather in inhospitable places....like the inside of a fuel tank or wheel well with atomized hydraulic fluid?? Not to mention that once you put your name on a logbook and sign off a repair you get to be liable for that repair for as long as the aircraft is in service.....10, 20 30 years??? h34r:

I will tell you what we get. NO respect. We are a liability to the company. And the irony of it all is that without mechanics you don't have airworthy airplanes!! That means NOBODY FLYS!!! Yet no one seems to grasp that fact. Not the company or the unions that try to keep them in line. Pilots make big bucks and that's fine. But don't you think mechanics compensation should reflect their responsibility and liability in a somewhat more appropriate fashion??? Again, nobody gets it. Instead we get our contractual work farmed out to some hack shop and are facing yet a 3rd round of wage and benefit concessions.....and yes it sucks and is Bulls**t :angry: That's why mechanics are leaving the industry. Why put up with all this crap when elevator mechanics make upwards of $40. per hour while working M-F and from 9 to 5 :blink: ??

It will never change. The sad thing is that it used to be such a rewarding career....now it's just a job. They took all the fun out of it and replaced it with mistrust, disdain, contempt and punishment. If they only had a brain......... <_<

BON VOYAGE DAVE LORENZO......hope you choke on your 5 million you robbed from us on your way out!!!!

 

[700UW]

E-Trons, you are right on the money!

 

[BoeingBoy]

Guys,

I didn't mean to ruffle feathers (well, not yours). Just saw the list of companies hiring A&P's and thought it conflicted with what someone else posted about prospects without US Airways.

Jim

 

[NeedForSpeedNFS]

The whole world has gone mad.

When mechanics in car dealerships can make more than FAA Certificated aircraft mechanics one must wonder......What the heck is going on here??

If your car breaks down you simply pull off to the side of the road. You make a call and a tow truck shows up and takes your car to the shop where they charge you a bunch of money to get you going again. Better for you if your car breaks down on a weekday before 5 pm. Otherwise you will be walking for the weekend.

What happens if your aircraft experiences a significant anomaly while at altitude? Sure you have the system redundancy to fall back on but what if the back up feature also fails due to shoddy maintenance?? For those of you having trouble with physics it's like this. Airplanes don't need any additional help in finding the ground!! Defying gravity is hard enough itself. That's why you want the most experienced hands working to keep the airplane in the sky .

And how do you do that?? Pay and benefits for starters. A good work atmosphere and employee relations also go a long way. These things lead to employee loyalty and longevity ultimately giving you a happy, experienced and comitted workforce. That's a formula for success.

So what do we get as aircraft mechanics??? We get shifts covering 24/7 @365 days a year? Midnight shift with Tuesday and Wednesday off?? Working in all sorts of weather in inhospitable places....like the inside of a fuel tank or wheel well with atomized hydraulic fluid?? Not to mention that once you put your name on a logbook and sign off a repair you get to be liable for that repair for as long as the aircraft is in service.....10, 20 30 years??? h34r:

I will tell you what we get. NO respect. We are a liability to the company. And the irony of it all is that without mechanics you don't have airworthy airplanes!! That means NOBODY FLYS!!! Yet no one seems to grasp that fact. Not the company or the unions that try to keep them in line. Pilots make big bucks and that's fine. But don't you think mechanics compensation should reflect their responsibility and liability in a somewhat more appropriate fashion??? Again, nobody gets it. Instead we get our contractual work farmed out to some hack shop and are facing yet a 3rd round of wage and benefit concessions.....and yes it sucks and is Bulls**t :angry: That's why mechanics are leaving the industry. Why put up with all this crap when elevator mechanics make upwards of $40. per hour while working M-F and from 9 to 5 :blink: ??

It will never change. The sad thing is that it used to be such a rewarding career....now it's just a job. They took all the fun out of it and replaced it with mistrust, disdain, contempt and punishment. If they only had a brain......... <_<

BON VOYAGE DAVE LORENZO......hope you choke on your 5 million you robbed from us on your way out!!!!

E-Trons, EXCELLENT!!!! Everything in a nutshell !!