So what are the facts? Does it cost us more to do it in house than it would to send it out? If you have the answer please inform Arpey because he doesnt. Since the company either doesnt have or chooses not to reveal "the facts" we have to work with the facts we have such as what SWA and UPS pay their mechanics. They pay them more, a lot more, to do the same things we do.
If you want to set the price of your labor on assumptions and inferences instead of facts thats up to you, but I see no logic in that. AA for all we know is not only saving money by doing it in house but getting an additional bonus of keeping wages lower by doing so. Labor should not subject itself to commodification, its a sure path to poverty.
SWA has less workers per aircraft. So? They only have 737s, six tires and four brakes, 777s have 14 tires and 12 brakes. Bigger airplanes require more workers per airplane. Take out OH (which I assume gives them a total cost advantage, otherwise AA would be complaining about it) and how does our Line Mech ratio compare? Then factor in ETOPs, which SWA doesnt do and dont forget to factor in how much AA sells their 777 first class seats for and how much revenue per flight a 777 generates.
I hear people throw out there that we do our own OH so we should not expect the same wage as workers at SWA or UPS but they are making big assumptions without anything to back up those assumptions. The thing is they ignore the fact that we used to make more than SWA and they didnt do OH then either. Do you really think that AA is keeping 1200 workers on payroll and bringing work in house because they like us? They are keeping them because its obviously cheaper to do it in house. Now admittedly there probably is a crossover point but we have never even been given a figure and like everything else the figures change. If AA dumped another 600 planes into the MRO market the price would likely go up, substantially. Especially when you factor in that since we took our paycuts the FAA has only been issuing around 6000 mechanic licenses per year. They now include any license holder under 70 as active. Thats to cover everything, Commercial, general, Business, Helicopter and manufacturing. That leaves the industry with a deficit of around 12000 per year, not counting those who leave the industry in search of better compensation. While its true that it isnt required to have an A&P employers prefer workers who have basic skills. Most passngers prefer it as well. If you insist on likening yourself to a porkbelly at least step back and try to discern the future, the scarcity is upon them, the company admitted that they could not offer the VBR to the line because "We cant afford to lose line mechanics",do you really want to settle into another 5+ year deal that leaves you unable to exploit that when it becomes so obvious that they cant deny it?
