My First Blog
So we know our editor, Karen, is determined when she gets me – an A&P mechanic for more than 40 years – to sit down and start a blog for mechanics, ground handlers, fuelers and all the other ramp rats that are the unsung heroes of aviation. Unsung is for sure. How many people know who Charles Taylor was? I rest my case on that.
I wasn’t too keen on this at first – mechanics and writing don’t go well together – just look at some of our maintenance entries and it’s clear why we became mechanics and not journalists. But I digress. As I thought about it, and as Karen would call once in a while to ask whether I’d do it, the idea started to grow on me. Why not start a dialogue with ground personnel men and women? I’d tell you what I thought – and those of you who know me know I speak truth to power and have never walked away when the going got tough – and you’d talk back to me and to each other.
So let me start by telling you about me and what’s on my mind. I grew up under the flight path to Logan Airport. In those days, even a major city airport like Boston’s had no fences. As a kid, me and my friends would go over and watch planes take off and land. A tad mischievous some might have called us – outright rascals others – we found our way through cargo warehouses and hangars and the occasional unattended tractor became our playgrounds. We learned about aircraft parts making repairs to our bicycles; those parts lasted longer – they didn’t come loose - and were a lot cheaper found on the hangar floor.
Suffice it to say, I’ve lived and breathed airports – and airport fumes – since I was a kid. Loved it then and love it still. From those early years playing at Logan, I learned to fly from a dirt strip, got my A&P, worked at a number of air carriers, owned my own FBO, became a union shop steward, worked accident investigations, and ultimately landed at the NTSB as the first Board member with an A&P. Enough about me. Let’s talk about an issue that’s on my mind and maybe on yours as well.
While the press and aviation industry focus on the lack of future pilots, where’s the clamor for the future of maintenance and ground handling? As usual, our unsung heroes remain unsung. But that’s because the public doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes; that an untrained ground handler can cause millions of dollars in damage by dinging an aircraft with a baggage cart or worse, improperly fueling an aircraft could cause disaster. Some airports are seeing annual turn over of 50% in their ground personnel. Staggering. Is anyone upset? If those were pilots bailing out at that rate, there would be a huge public outcry.
So why is there such tremendous turnover? Could it be that pay and benefits are inadequate? Grossly inadequate? I think this is an emergency for our industry and I want to light a fire under a few seats that could start making changes. But I need to know what you think. Are pay and benefits a problem? Are you thinking of changing careers because of it? Do you know excellent candidates that refused a job because the pay/benefits were too low?
October 7th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I believe the pay and benifits are to low for the resposibility we have moving aircraft de-icing and such. But i have stuck with it because i like the job. After thirteen years i am just over $10.00 an hour. I believe we are the unsung heros of the fbo because we are out there in all types of weather and most of the time we are looked down on by pilots and passengers.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am
when i came to the airlines 24 yrs ago, i noticed that even the kitchen help drove nice cars, sent thier kids to college, etc. i knew i found a career.
present management doesnt remember that we work week ends, holidays, bad weather, unsafe conditions,overnite shifts, etc
may be because they dont…seems that they took a great career and turned it into just a job until some one finds a better paying job..or a career..airlines want out of the employee business,
just look through your magazine,lots of it is about out source of airline jobs to smaller companies,hence less pay…it also seems that we pay less attention to procedures/ rules / safety as we “dumb” down the airline , well as they told us after we lost our pension, JUST GET OVER IT…
October 21st, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Jon,
Time for you to move on with your life.
If you have the skill find another career.
IAM Ramp Rat
October 21st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
dear ramp rat, thanks to you i have plenty to fix, and i am over it,ask my bosses, but i am surrounded by people who arent…i am a master ase truck mechanic ,certified welder, AA auto tech trition jr college , i hold sec 609, 608 refrigeration certificates i am attending school for PLC’s ac drives, i am a long time iam guy who has been draged into amfa, now teamsters , i see the people we hire now with the pay scales (the famous b scale, brought to you by the iam )that we offer , all we get are laid off aircraft mechanics and ramp guys who worked on their dad’ s car . the skill level is going up as tier 4 engines come on line ( technology has arrived into ground equipment) i need younger talent to take over as i grow old, so will you … the bottom 16 mechanics in chicago are looking at being laid off/ bumped out for the 4th time since 911, there is very good talant in that group, what is their reason to come back, we let 12 mechanic go while they were on probation……… if i have skills,grrrrrrrrr……….. not every one is a beat off in the garage……….. god bless ramp rats…if they cared i would have less to do…
October 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
John,
All will benefit from your candor and realistic views of your profession. Keep it up!
October 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Oh, where to start? First off, let me say that I’ve had my A&P for 28 years, I started with a once proud airline (Eastern), got laid off after 3 years & then went to work for a large regional airline, who was then bought by a small major (Piedmont) who was then bought out by a larger major (USAir). I stuck with them through thick & thin, walking picket lines when there was no other way to protect jobs & work rules, only to have my maintenance station elminated when it was time to “downsize” the operation. No sour grapes, just a business decision by folks who were looking out for their shareholders.
I share your concern about the future of aircraft maintenance. What do we have to offer our youth? At least when we were out there in 20 below weather, (working midnights, weekends, holidays, etc) we were getting a decent wage & had good benefits. Now the pay is low (for the responsibility you take each and every time you sign your name), the benefits are poor, and the working conditions haven’t changed. Airlines still need their aircraft worked on in the middle of the night, they still need to fly on holidays, now they rely on “on-call” maintenance providers that have no “ownership” in the operation.
I run one of those “on-call” maintenance shops & I stress to my mechanics the need for safe, timely maintenance. We do our best, but it is extremely difficult to be well versed on every type of aircraft that we see. We work with over 20 different carriers who each have their own policies and procedures. MOC is stretched thin, the airlines are hanging on by their fingernails.
I can’t, in good conscience recommend this field to anyone, the climate has changed. Between de-regulation and the general health of the industry, we don’t have much to offer.
I wish that I had the answers, maybe someone out there does? We fix complex aircraft every day, how do we fix the industry & bring it back to it’s former glory?
October 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
There are multiple forces at work that keep ground personnel at the bottom-most rung of the Aviation ladder. Notwithstanding the economic and market aspects, the worst enemy is sometimes the individual himself. As Mr. Goglia points out, our communication skills are lacking, thus how do we communicate to our employers, our industry, and our peers, that the job performed is incredibly difficult and the reward is woefully anemic at best? As an A&P technician, despite the Airman Certificate, we are still considered unskilled labor. The repair function - arguably the most critical part of flight - is farmed out to overseas operations, which the FAA is only now scrutinizing. This is not the industry’s fault, but ours. The industry will not change on our behalf: we have to change the industry, and that change begins with the individaul Airman. I realize that platitudes are not enough, but one must acknowledge that Union “solidarity” that allowed two-tiered pay scales, non-union workers on the ramp, and inconceivable concessions, combined with ruthless corporate policies and profit-driven agendas to create the ignominious “ditch-diggers” that we have become. If there is a change to make, we can do so through self-education, as well as formal education. By infusing and stimulating (in this case) the aircraft maintenance profession, only then will proficiency, safety, and self-esteem return to a profession that is totally taken for granted. Remember folks, it all starts with you - accountability will bring the reward, and trust me, it won’t be easy.