Aircraft Maint Attrition
- Thread starter Bob Owens
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Hopeful
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For those who are not familiar with title 1....This number is not just AMT's. This title includes aircraft cleaners and OSMs.....
Hopeful
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Even if thats so its still an unexpectedly high number considering that they werent laid off and that many left their jobs in a period of economic uncertainty. Normally people tend to stay where they are in times like these if they can.
I think that the whole industry is in for a big shock. When you consider that 6.5% of this country has a felony record, which would disqualify them from working on the airport and the low wages and miserable working conditions that airlines are offering (obviously they cant hire illegal aliens) who are they going to get to do the work?
Well....There are plenty of security guards, baggage handlers, etc..who currently work on the AOA for about $8.00 per hour.
Its not a stretch to think that thre are plenty of employable bodies out there that could work as non-licensed OSM's for lets say $20.00 per hour.
Problem for us is that AA's part 145 repair station certificate allows non-licensed personell to carry out work on our aircraft. Granted they could not sign it off. A licenced A&P must certify the work as airworthy. I believe that this was a proposeal by AA during contract negotiations?
I see this as a problem in the future as air carriers try to "adjust" the available labor pool in their favor as licensed and qualified A&P mechanics become scarce...........Unfortunately.
Its a scarcity that they are creating.
I dont know how serious the company is as far as the ASMs(unlicensed line mechanics), after all in the high pressure time constrained enviornment of the line having people without the basic A&P background doesnt seem to be an idea that would work too well. Sure they may be able to plug in a few on B-checks but working live trips? I think they had simply run out of concessions to ask for, they pretty much got everything else already.
We dont see the fly-by-night operators using unlicensed mechanics either.
The company would at any rate still want people with mechanical ability and people with such skills arent that likely to make themselves available to the airlines. Title II is already in a pinch, they are hiring people at top rates, and thats basically the same wage as us less the license pay(they get skill pay).
As far as getting another A&P to sign off on the work of an unlicensed worker, well I wouldnt do it, would you?
Wretched Wrench
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Chuck Schalk
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Good point, we also have to look at these one world alliances and the impact it potentially has on doing work on our aircraft. South America and Europe already do ps, A checks, work cards on our aircraft and not considered outsourcing.
Joe Patroni
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It's not that A&P's are scarce. It's the fact that most like me won't return to the industry for what the company is offering. Unfortunately, it is only going to get worse for the ones that have a license in their pocket.
It is not considered outsourcing because these foreign nationals are AA employees. When AA bought the route authorities from EA, the governments of those Latin countries REQUIRED AA to hire the employees (with their EA, Braniff, Panagra pay and seniority) as a condition for approval to operate in those countries. The same is true when AA bought TWA's Heathrow routes in the early 1990s. Wow, what a novel idea, a government that actually works for the well being of it's workers.
Damned Commies! People ahead of Profits?!! Thats Un-American, just ask Bill O'Rielly!!!
With the exception of Cuba and possibly Nicaragua, in 1990 (when AA bought the routes), Latin America was anything but communist, in fact they were right wing governments (Pinochet?). It was these right wing governments' right as sovereign nations to demand labor protections for the former EA employees if AA wanted authority to land in their respective countries.
Ok, Damned Socialists!
eolesen
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AA had locally based A&P's staffing LGW and FRA dating back into the 80's, long before the first TWA deal.
No question on politics involved with the Eastern deal, albeit not every country made it an issue. I don't recall London being a government requirement as much as a simple matter of practicality -- how do you start up a station that busy and complex without keeping the existing staff? The cost of bringing on the ground staff was minimal.
Back on track a bit, I'm not too surprised that there are people bailing out.
2003 forced a lot of us to decide if it was more important to work for an airline or to pay our bills. At some point, you realize that the pride you get from your chosen career and the love of aviation still isn't paying the bills. Six (almost seven) years later you realize you're still not looking at new contracts, and the idea of restore or retro look worse.
If there are future rounds of layoffs and bump & roll, some people are probably also looking at their house and realizing they'll never get out from under their mortgages (even if you're lucky enough to be in one of the jobs where the company buys out your house at 95% of appraised value, so you're still likely to be underwater), and the last few rounds of downsizing resulted in some people being transferred multiple times before they got a recall.
It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of those people facing this a second time to decide it just ain't worth the disruption, and take control of the situation early and find something else that puts less stress on the marriage, family, etc...
