I'm not Bob, but I will respond to the non-
ad hominum components, at least from my own perspective.
Some of us love airplanes, and hope or even believe things can be improved. Many of us love airplanes so much we do it for free in our off time or after retirement.
Elevators are not nearly as interesting nor as challenging as airplanes.
Ever heard of Golden Handcuffs? Many of us are kept here by the possibility and hope of drawing a retirement from AA, although that hope is diminishing rapidly lately. Some of us even have some hope that the PBGC will give us a fraction of our retirement when and if AA defaults on the defined benefit retirement plan. I would venture to say that if we had a defined contribution retirement plan many of us would be long gone, as it would be portable. BTW, it is only a matter of time until AA converts to that. After that happens, the best and the brightest will leave, and only the
non compos mentis will remain. We are seeing some of that already. We are seeing a parallel situation in those entering this career field. Sort of a reverse Darwinism.....only the least fit remain. I have seen it over the years with layoffs, too. If you lay off ten guys, two will be top wrenches, two will be slugs and six will be average. You know, the typical bell curve. When recall comes around, both of the slugs will be back, half or so of the average guys, and none or maybe one of the aces.
So what it comes down to is that your airplanes are going to be maintained by an ever- diminishing number of guys like Bob, who love it, and an ever-increasing number of NCOs. (No Chance on the Outside). This wouldn't have worked on DC 6s and 7s. It might work on today's airplanes, with the self-diagnostic capabilities and backups. It will get worse when the airlines start hiring Third World pilots for a quarter of the wages. Cheap maintenance and cheap pilots is a deadly combination. Time will tell.
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