Just A Aviation Technician (Mechanic)
by
Allen D. Booher
Have you ever said the words: I am just a Mechanic. I have. In the past I have used it as an apology for dirty hands, or an excuse for not taking charge and solving a difficult non-technical problem, or to justify being lazy, when the boss wanted something out of the ordinary done.
As I have grown older, and hopefully wiser over the years that I have spent in this profession, I have discovered, to my dismay, that every day, more and more Technicians are repeating those same words over and over again: I am just a Technician. I am just a Technician. This negative mantra reinforces a belief in a flawed, fatalistic, and unproductive attitude that says, to be a Technician is somehow, in some undetermined way, to be something less.
This unspoken and undefined belief has cursed our profession for the last 68 years. As a result of this belief, we continue to remain stalled at the semiskilled level when compared to other occupations. This belief is growing. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, a mindset malaise that is slowly attacking our professions very soul by infecting our self-confidence with tiny cankerworms of dispair.
The belief is becoming more than noticeable in our younger Aviation Technicians (mechanics). They are becoming more cynical about their profession. In their eyes, I see a loss of confidence and pride in what we do. When we Aviation Technicians (mechanics), especially the younger ones, lose our self-respect, we open our profession to outside ridicule, especially from the media.
Don''t believe it? Turn on your television set. An actor playing an FAA-certificate Aviation Technician (Mechanic) working for a part 135 operator is presently portraying one of us, on nationwide TV, as having a room temperature IQ, a village idiot. The Aviation Technician (mechanic) is the outsider, the butt of jokes, and so completely lacking in social skills, that his idea of having a good time is to take a six pack to the town dump on Friday and shoot rats.
So conditioned are we to this attitude, this belief, this self-fulfilling prophecy of ours, that we sit in our comfortable chairs on a given night and with our families and we laugh on cue at the TV Mechanic. We laugh at the aviation throwback; we laugh at the fool with the dirty hands.
Shame on us, we deserve better. Thousands of lives, millions of dollars worth of aircraft are entrusted to us every day. With that kind of responsibility we should be recognized as professionals.
But we are not recognized as professionals, and why not? Because not enough of us have a professional attitude! And just what is a professional attitude? While a professional attitude is difficult to identify and in words to explain, it can be recognized by the following characteristics and traits.
A true Aviation professional loves his work. This is his or her chosen profession. He or she wants to be the best that they can be. Aviation professionals are always seeking to learn and grow in their chosen profession. They have an insatiable curiosity about everything relating to their chosen field of endeavor.
An aviation professional takes the same amount of pride in a tire change as a turbine engine overhaul. To an aviation professional there are no minor jobs. Each task deserves and gets the same effort and attention to detail. An aviation professional seeks, performs and maintains a high-quality standard in everything they do.
An aviation professional dresses the part. He or she is clean in appearance, exudes confidence, and speaks from knowledge. An aviation professional would never use language which is offensive, regardless of the place or situation. For these reasons, professionals are sought out by their customers, colleagues, and associates.
So, how do we turn ourselves into professionals? How do we turn around a 68-year-old attitude? The solution is to be found in the root cause of the problem. We must change our attitude! We must change our daily mantra from I am a professional.
Once we convince ourselves that we can be, and are professionals, then act and perform as professionals, we will convince others in our trade that they too can be professionals. Then and only then will we shed the term semi-skilled like an old worn coat.
All it takes is a change in our attitude. Yours and mine, a belief, that one individual can and does make a difference. A belief in the power of one. Let''s start changing our attitudes today! Let''s get rid of that old coat, just a mechanic. You an I are the very best in the aviation industry today. Without us this industry would grind to a halt. So why settle for anything less than the recognition and pride that a professional excepts and deserves? Let us be aviation professionals.
Repeat after me: I am a Aviation Technician Professional. I am a Aviation Technician Professional. I am a Aviation Technician Professional.
NOTE: Allen D. Booher is an FAA airworthiness inspector at the Baton Rouge, LA, Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), 1-504-357-1790. This article appeared in the November/December, 1995 issue of Aircraft Maintenance Technology.
This is a reprint! The Mechanic has been substituted for Avation Technician in some spots.
Their is a few who Increasingly enjoy being Negative! It is everyone elses problem! Or it is the Unions or Companies problem! Just think what could be accomplished if these same Individuals would put their efforts in something useful!
Have a Nice Day!
by
Allen D. Booher
Have you ever said the words: I am just a Mechanic. I have. In the past I have used it as an apology for dirty hands, or an excuse for not taking charge and solving a difficult non-technical problem, or to justify being lazy, when the boss wanted something out of the ordinary done.
As I have grown older, and hopefully wiser over the years that I have spent in this profession, I have discovered, to my dismay, that every day, more and more Technicians are repeating those same words over and over again: I am just a Technician. I am just a Technician. This negative mantra reinforces a belief in a flawed, fatalistic, and unproductive attitude that says, to be a Technician is somehow, in some undetermined way, to be something less.
This unspoken and undefined belief has cursed our profession for the last 68 years. As a result of this belief, we continue to remain stalled at the semiskilled level when compared to other occupations. This belief is growing. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, a mindset malaise that is slowly attacking our professions very soul by infecting our self-confidence with tiny cankerworms of dispair.
The belief is becoming more than noticeable in our younger Aviation Technicians (mechanics). They are becoming more cynical about their profession. In their eyes, I see a loss of confidence and pride in what we do. When we Aviation Technicians (mechanics), especially the younger ones, lose our self-respect, we open our profession to outside ridicule, especially from the media.
Don''t believe it? Turn on your television set. An actor playing an FAA-certificate Aviation Technician (Mechanic) working for a part 135 operator is presently portraying one of us, on nationwide TV, as having a room temperature IQ, a village idiot. The Aviation Technician (mechanic) is the outsider, the butt of jokes, and so completely lacking in social skills, that his idea of having a good time is to take a six pack to the town dump on Friday and shoot rats.
So conditioned are we to this attitude, this belief, this self-fulfilling prophecy of ours, that we sit in our comfortable chairs on a given night and with our families and we laugh on cue at the TV Mechanic. We laugh at the aviation throwback; we laugh at the fool with the dirty hands.
Shame on us, we deserve better. Thousands of lives, millions of dollars worth of aircraft are entrusted to us every day. With that kind of responsibility we should be recognized as professionals.
But we are not recognized as professionals, and why not? Because not enough of us have a professional attitude! And just what is a professional attitude? While a professional attitude is difficult to identify and in words to explain, it can be recognized by the following characteristics and traits.
A true Aviation professional loves his work. This is his or her chosen profession. He or she wants to be the best that they can be. Aviation professionals are always seeking to learn and grow in their chosen profession. They have an insatiable curiosity about everything relating to their chosen field of endeavor.
An aviation professional takes the same amount of pride in a tire change as a turbine engine overhaul. To an aviation professional there are no minor jobs. Each task deserves and gets the same effort and attention to detail. An aviation professional seeks, performs and maintains a high-quality standard in everything they do.
An aviation professional dresses the part. He or she is clean in appearance, exudes confidence, and speaks from knowledge. An aviation professional would never use language which is offensive, regardless of the place or situation. For these reasons, professionals are sought out by their customers, colleagues, and associates.
So, how do we turn ourselves into professionals? How do we turn around a 68-year-old attitude? The solution is to be found in the root cause of the problem. We must change our attitude! We must change our daily mantra from I am a professional.
Once we convince ourselves that we can be, and are professionals, then act and perform as professionals, we will convince others in our trade that they too can be professionals. Then and only then will we shed the term semi-skilled like an old worn coat.
All it takes is a change in our attitude. Yours and mine, a belief, that one individual can and does make a difference. A belief in the power of one. Let''s start changing our attitudes today! Let''s get rid of that old coat, just a mechanic. You an I are the very best in the aviation industry today. Without us this industry would grind to a halt. So why settle for anything less than the recognition and pride that a professional excepts and deserves? Let us be aviation professionals.
Repeat after me: I am a Aviation Technician Professional. I am a Aviation Technician Professional. I am a Aviation Technician Professional.
NOTE: Allen D. Booher is an FAA airworthiness inspector at the Baton Rouge, LA, Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), 1-504-357-1790. This article appeared in the November/December, 1995 issue of Aircraft Maintenance Technology.
This is a reprint! The Mechanic has been substituted for Avation Technician in some spots.
Their is a few who Increasingly enjoy being Negative! It is everyone elses problem! Or it is the Unions or Companies problem! Just think what could be accomplished if these same Individuals would put their efforts in something useful!
Have a Nice Day!
44 AM Bob Owens wrote: 
00 AM j7915 wrote: 
