AMTonline Blogs

News came this week that Lufthansa Technik will add 280 apprentices to its training program this summer.

The largest training centers are in Hamburg (137 new apprentices), Frankfurt (105), and Munich (30). Under the heading of “Technics Students,” Lufthansa Technik is continuing to expand its collaboration with institutes of higher education by offering 33 places in six practically oriented courses of study. The most recent addition is a “Bachelor of Engineering Aircraft Maintenance,” for which 10 places have been allocated.

In support of the program, an official said, “Training is a social responsibility . . . and ensuring the best possible qualification and motivation of our personnel is the foundation on which the commercial success of Lufthansa Technik is built.”

For the full release

Thanks for reading and Have a Safe Fourth.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

News from the FAA reports that the manager at the center of the Southwest Airlines safety incident has retired. See news item.

Stephen Prentice wrote about the situation in the May issue: What Do You Have to Do to Get Fired?

Bill O’Brien writes about the safety inspectors that reported him in the July issue. They had to resort to the Whistleblower Act to get someone to listen to the safety issues.

So who gets the best deal, the one who gets to retire or the ones that get to keep working with a cloud over their heads?

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

In Southern Wisconsin we’re battling water levels that are topping the record books. Sand bagging is helping to protect or at least delay damage to property and roadways.

So we understand wanting to prevent rain from adding to the problem.

But a story this week shows you have to be careful when dealing with Mother Nature. An owner of a home in Moscow has a hole in her roof from a 55-pound bag of cement dropped from a Russian Air Force aircraft.

Cement? To keep the rain away from public holidays the government has up to 12 aircraft drop silver iodide, liquid nitrogen, and cement powder to dry up the moisture.

In this case the bag failed to pulverize at high altitude and made a 2.5- to 3-foot hole in a roof. The incident was reportedly the first such occurrence in 20 years.

So stay dry and don’t try and fool with Mother Nature.

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

As AMT plans for our 10^th Career Development issue it has come to our attention that deadlines for several maintenance scholarships are approaching. As the industry evolves, new technology requires additional training and thankfully there are resources to help make additional training possible.

NBAA, the National Business Aviation Association, offers several scholarships to promote professional development and business aviation careers. Deadline for applications is Aug. 1, 2008. More resources will be covered in the August issue.

Alan H. Conklin Business Aviation Management Scholarship: NBAA and Conklin & de Decker will annually award $5,000 to a student who is officially enrolled in an aviation management program at a University Aviation Association (UAA) member school. A completed and signed application form must be accompanied by proof of enrollment, an official transcript, essay, resume and two letters of recommendation.

William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship: NBAA annually awards $5,000 to two applicants pursuing careers as maintenance technicians. One award will benefit a student who currently is enrolled in an accredited airframe & powerplant (A&P) program at an approved FAR Part 147 school. The second award will benefit an individual who currently is not enrolled but has been accepted for enrollment in an A&P program.

Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship: NBAA and the family and friends of Lawrence Ginocchio will annually award $25,000 to five students who are officially enrolled at NBAA/University Aviation Association (UAA)-member institutions (to review full list, view the application form). Students must be undergraduate sophomores, juniors, or seniors with a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

USAIG PDP Scholarship: The U.S. Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG) annually awards $1,000 to an applicant enrolled full-time in a university offering the NBAA Professional Development Program (PDP).

The descriptions and application forms can be found at www.nbaa.org/public/education/scholarships/

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

The NTSB is set to review recent accidents that highlight the dangers of human fatique within airline operations.

• Oct. 19, 2004, Kirksville, Missouri, Corporate Airlines. Both pilots and 11 passengers were killed. Two passengers received serious injuries.

• Feb. 18, 2007, Delta Connection, operated by Shuttle America, Inc., Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. All 72 passengers and a crew of four deplaned without serious injury.

• Feb. 13, 2008, Go! flight 1002, operated by Mesa Airlines, flew past its destination airport of Hilo, Hawaii. There were no injuries. What system or practices are implemented to prevent accidents from fatique where you work? What do you do to ensure you don’t succumb to fatique?Thanks for reading.

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 4 percent fewer pilots and 32 percent fewer maintenance workers in 2007 than in 2000, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported. Here are some of the numbers:

• The seven large network carriers employed 29.9 percent fewer pilots and 42.6 percent fewer maintenance workers in 2007 than in 2000.

• The six low-cost carriers now operating employed 24.2 percent more pilots and 2.1 percent more maintenance workers from 2000 to 2007.

• Northwest Airlines had the largest reduction in maintenance workers of any network airline from 2000 to 2007.

• Alaska and Continental Airlines were the only network carriers to add maintenance employees during 2000 to 2007.

• JetBlue also had the largest increase in maintenance workers of any low-cost airline from 2000 to 2007 while Spirit Airlines had the only reduction.

• Spending by network airlines for outsourced maintenance increased from 29.6 percent of total maintenance spending in 2000 to 45.3 percent in 2007.

• Northwest’s spending for outsourcing increased from 23.8 percent of total spending in 2000 to 71.0 percent in 2007.

• Allegiant had 3.1 maintenance workers per aircraft in 2007 the fewest of any low-cost airline.

• Frontier had 7.7 maintenance workers per aircraft in 2007, the most of any low-cost airline but down from 12.8 employees per aircraft in 2000. Frontier’s spending for outsourcing increased from 16.6 percent of total maintenance spending in 2000 to 20.5 percent in 2007.

With the decline in numbers what changes have you experienced over the last several years? How have work practices changed?

For the full release: BTS Releases 2007 Passenger Airline Employment by Job Category

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/bts2608.htm

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

Celebrate You!

Celebrate what you do for the industry and celebrate the man who started it all, Charles Taylor on May 24. You can read more about him in this month’s story called "Master Mechanic - Charles Taylor".

As you look back at Charlie’s accomplishments maybe you can come up with innovations of your own. Conoco Phillips is awarding a substantial prize for coming up with energy alternatives. The Energy Prize is a new awards program that recognizes innovative ideas and original, actionable solutions that can help improve the way the United States develops and uses energy. In 2008, the program will award up to $300,000 in cash prizes and focus on generating original concepts and resolutions that help in three areas. But there’s a catch (of course), the deadline is May 30. So you have less time than Taylor did for creating a new engine or energy-saving idea. Read more in the "ConocoPhillips Energy Prize" article.

And Joe’s farewell column is also available. Joe was a great asset to the industry and the magazine and we’re working on a replacement and will let you know as soon as we can.

Thanks for reading and have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Barb Zuehlke, Managing Editor

An article in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald says Qantas was preparing to “smash” its aircraft engineers union by bringing in recruits trained in Malaysia.

Seems Qantas has hired Newport Aviation to recruit highly trained licensed aircraft maintenance engineers. Fixed-term casual positions pay $2,308 a week with the possibility of a $40,000 completion bonus.

Today, Qantas engineers cancelled plans to strike tomorrow. The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) had been calling for a 5 percent wage increase per year while the airline has steadfastly refused to budge on its 3 percent offer. Today the union said the association would accept a rise of between 3 and 5 percent.

Earlier today, Chief Executive Geoff Dixon refused to rule out the use of strike breakers if negotiations again falter. One would hope negotiations will prevail.

 If you went through the Northwest strike what would you say to Qantas maintenance engineers? What would you say to Dixon?

For the newspaper article click here
http://business.smh.com.au/qantas-prepares-to-smash-strike-20080514-2eat.html

Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke

Managing Editor

A lot of companies have released financial reports in the last week or so. With companies and airlines suffering from fuel costs and other factors, entire routes are being eliminated, and daily flights are being trimmed:

US Airways cut 10 routes from its Las Vegas hub effective Aug. 19.

American Airlines says it will stop serving Oakland International Airport.

JetBlue is looking at shorter flights instead of focusing on long-haul flights.

What is your company doing to compensate for financial losses? Are you forming new alliances within the industry? Selling assets? Raising prices for services? Is the focus on the customer or the bottom line? We’d like to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

According to a press release from Emirates, it has achieved its 20^th consecutive year of net profit, in spite of soaring fuel costs and challenging business conditions. For the full release click here.

• Group net profits increased 54.1 percent to $1.45 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2008, on revenues of $11.2 billion compared to the previous year’s $8.5 billion.

• The Group net margin improved to 13.2 percent from 11.4 percent in the previous year.

• Emirates will pay a dividend of $272.5 million to its owner, the Government of Dubai.

• In 2007-08, the Group estimates a direct contribution of $6 billion, and another $6.8 billion in indirect contribution to the UAE economy.

It claims its success is based on ongoing investments in the latest technology, products, and customer service while keeping a tight rein on costs.

And it doesn’t plan on resting on its laurels but plans on continuing to provide its customers with the high quality experience that they have come to expect.

It’s the same with AMT. Thanks for reading.

Barb Zuehlke