Future AME Discouraged

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rubberboot
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by rubberboot »

DrBoeing wrote:Back to the topic!!!!!!!

If you really like working on aircraft,then this may be the job for you. Be forewarned, if you sign on with a major, your first 10 to 15 years will be on steady midnights.
Not going to dispute any of the info you put in here, just going to point out that the "Major" cargo companies fix them during the day, and fly at night. Limited staff on nights, just for departures. Passengers never complain about the PSU not working in the AAA container there located in, or the fact that they are packed in like sardines. Never have to fix a seat tray. Also, if the aircraft is still equipped with a galley, pilots don't complain that the oven is dirty or doesn't heat well (etc) because they know that Management will just deactivate and/or remove it. Same for Lavatories - complain too often, replaced with a porta potty. NEF equipment. No hot looking Flight Attendants.... :(

Don't get me wrong, Cargo is no better or worse than Passenger, just different. Management style is still old school....

Here's hoping the old boys will get old and retire.
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DrBoeing
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by DrBoeing »

rubberboot wrote:
DrBoeing wrote:Back to the topic!!!!!!!

If you really like working on aircraft,then this may be the job for you. Be forewarned, if you sign on with a major, your first 10 to 15 years will be on steady midnights.
Not going to dispute any of the info you put in here, just going to point out that the "Major" cargo companies fix them during the day, and fly at night. Limited staff on nights, just for departures. Passengers never complain about the PSU not working in the AAA container there located in, or the fact that they are packed in like sardines. Never have to fix a seat tray. Also, if the aircraft is still equipped with a galley, pilots don't complain that the oven is dirty or doesn't heat well (etc) because they know that Management will just deactivate and/or remove it. Same for Lavatories - complain too often, replaced with a porta potty. NEF equipment. No hot looking Flight Attendants.... :(

Don't get me wrong, Cargo is no better or worse than Passenger, just different. Management style is still old school....

Here's hoping the old boys will get old and retire.
Very valid point!
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pilotdreams
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by pilotdreams »

I am an AME. I own my own home and drive a nice truck. I have a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. I have had a love for airplanes ever since my father took me to the abbotsford airshow when I was 5 years old. I fly airplanes as well as fix them. I'm happy with life.
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How do you know when your half way through a date with a Pilot? When they say "enough talk about flying, lets talk about me!"
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cramer604
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by cramer604 »

:prayer:
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Last edited by cramer604 on Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
DBA
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by DBA »

pilotdreams wrote:I am an AME. I own my own home and drive a nice truck. I have a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. I have had a love for airplanes ever since my father took me to the abbotsford airshow when I was 5 years old. I fly airplanes as well as fix them. I'm happy with life.
...and what has that got to do with the topic?
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pilotdreams
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by pilotdreams »

I just want the young guys reading this to know that not all AMEs are broke and more whiny about work conditions/industry than a 20 year old pilot.
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How do you know when your half way through a date with a Pilot? When they say "enough talk about flying, lets talk about me!"
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cramer604
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by cramer604 »

:prayer:
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Last edited by cramer604 on Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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cramer604
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by cramer604 »

:prayer:
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Last edited by cramer604 on Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
conehead
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by conehead »

cramer604 wrote:sorry i misinterpreted that wrong. .
So, you interpreted it correctly? Reminds me of something a former U.S. President would say...
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Indanao
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by Indanao »

cramer604 wrote:Question, along with your flight training, did mommy and daddy also pay for your lap top so that you can post on a forum for maintenance. Pilots are a dime dozen. Now go away and watch "top gun" again. We don't need feed back from a pile of lit, especially from a twenty year old.
I bet I paid twice as much for my licenses than you did for yours.

Arrogant AMEs have been with us forever. :supz:
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conehead
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by conehead »

Indanao wrote:
Arrogant AMEs have been with us forever. :supz:
Like this guy; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Taylor
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oldncold
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by oldncold »

back in the day // every spring in yxl at the bearskin the parking lot would change dramatically. The pilots that left for the majors would leave room in their spots for their fav f/o to park and a few weeks later after the upgrade the shiny new trucks and cars of newly minted captains . replacing the 19 ancient something rust buket with worn out tape decks, (due to driving multiple times across the country looking for that elusive holy grail of turbine job during the latest multi year recession . SOUND FAMILIAR.


In the ame dept the same thing would happen those who wanted 'a life ' would get a chance in tbay
and the newly licensed ame would treat themselves to a bizillon $ snow machine with so many after market go faster than the metro n king air they fixed at night parts. to show them pilots up . OH I FORGOT THE NEW CHEVY FORD ETC to get to their fav lake both to ice fish and test the ballistic properties of their new land based sled. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mrgreen:


all in all balance was struck and right inb the nwo world the pilots got the girl for the 1 nighter but the ame had the bigger bank balance and he got the gal for the long haul and when its 42 below c in yxl
which is the smart move.? fly safe and keep a cool tool /
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Vyper28
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by Vyper28 »

This is a really daunting thread. I saw an ad awhile back about working for CNC/Heli-One in the lower mainland and thought it looked appealing, they said AME-M for 80,000/year? I was about ready to take the plunge and take the program at BCIT but.. man this is looking scary/bleak. I'm working in I.T. right now, and you guys have mentioned a few things about people in I.T. making good cash ect. ect. but hey.. I've been doing this for 7 years, and I've found that I.T. guys are a dime a dozen and most of the time I feel like some kid will try do what I do for 1/2 the price. He'll likely fail but they'd rather pay him then me and fix it later!

Now I'm starting to feel like maybe AME is not for me... The guy at BCIT said I could look into Gas Turbines instead and that the work outlook was strong in those fields.. something about oil or whatever.. But I haven't seen much in here for suggestions of other paths to take. I guess that's too be expected from an aviation forum though. Am I really better off taking the electrician program or plumbing or HVAC or something rather then fixing choppers :O? To break 80k a year in the I.T. field I'd be looking at a lot more then an 18 month program.. I can tell you that much. MCSE, MCDB, Cisco, Network +, Unix.. 4 years down the road I might be done all the schooling needed for network admin.. Then I might pull 80k/year..

/discouraged.
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conehead
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by conehead »

If you can find something that you enjoy doing, and someone will actually pay you to do, then you have found the greatest job in the world. I have a job like that. I am a licensed AME, and I have enjoyed messing around with various airplanes for 30 years now. Along the way, I have earned enough money to pay for a house, a cottage, various cars, and put a couple of kids through school. Life is good. Aviation Maintenance has been a good career for me.

Just my 2% of a dollar worth... :D
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RFlyer
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Re: Future AME Discouraged - Someone Actually Wrote a Book

Post by RFlyer »

My daily scan through YVR craigslist for aircraft related stuff turned this up - right on topic. Don't know if it's for real, but looks like it...

http://mindflipbooks.ca/

RF
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Pat Richard
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by Pat Richard »

My true identity finally revealed..... :lol: He should approach Aviation World for distributorship.

Anyone know if any other similar industry has ever driven somebody to put something like this together, or is aviation unique in that matter?

Too funny...
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iflyforpie
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by iflyforpie »

I saw an ad awhile back about working for CNC/Heli-One in the lower mainland and thought it looked appealing, they said AME-M for 80,000/year?
How can you live in Vancouver on $80K/yr?

Are you going to rent an apartment for the rest of your life? Drive two hours a day from the not-much-more-reasonably-priced suburbs?

You could make half of that somewhere else and have a better quality of life...
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Geez did I say that....? Or just think it....?
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Zip Tie
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by Zip Tie »

The reason why AMEs are not getting paid for their worth and are being treated like crap is that we do not stick together.That fact has gone on for decades.

The reason why pilots do well is the opposite.

They (Pilots) realized the problem early and acted and they have formed this =>
http://www.alpa.org/AboutALPA/WhoWeAre/ ... fault.aspx

We have this=>
Infighting, bitching and complaining.

So if you plan to do nothing about it, expect nothing, and you will do fine.
The corporate /business structure knows that we are weak.
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The Hammer
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by The Hammer »

Zip Tie wrote:The reason why AMEs are not getting paid for their worth and are being treated like crap is that we do not stick together.That fact has gone on for decades.

The reason why pilots do well is the opposite.

They (Pilots) realized the problem early and acted and they have formed this =>
http://www.alpa.org/AboutALPA/WhoWeAre/ ... fault.aspx

We have this=>
Infighting, bitching and complaining.

So if you plan to do nothing about it, expect nothing, and you will do fine.

The corporate /business structure knows that we are weak.

Don't look to the pilots as an example. Air Canada's pilot union has disintegrated with the pilots firing their leadership and negotiating commitee after the last tentative agreement was negotiated with the company.

ACPA and ALPA keep on underbidding each other for work and airplanes. AC and Jazz both operate 2 types of 75 seat airplane (EMB 175 and CRJ705) and the pilots whore themselves out to get the jobs/flying.

Air Canada pilots recently changed part of their contract to allow other carriers ie Sky Regional, to operate Air Canada flights (operating identical airplanes as Jazz, Q400). It was exclusively done by Jazz for the last 25 years. Guess what, Sky Regional pays less, has no pension plan, and shittier benefits than Jazz. Air Canada pilots did this just before contract negotiations to try and negotiate something better for themselves. What they got was a big thank you from management and then a contract offer so bad that 90% of the pilots turned it down and +90% voter turn out.

ALPA is no better.

The pilot industry in North america is being manipulated badly by management.

Remember that dash 8 crash in Buffalo 3 years ago. The FO was commuting from her parents house in Seattle the night before and worked a 2nd job at starbucks.


Whatever pilots use to have is now gone and we are well on our way down. Don't get me wrong it is still decent but only because it started so high.
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vansterdam
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Re: Future AME Discouraged

Post by vansterdam »

Just got accepted into GT Tech program @ BCIT (Vancouver) but still not sure if it's worth taking. Are there any jobs for GTs around? Are they better off or worse than AMEs? How different is the industry for GTs? Anyone familiar with BCIT's certificate, is it worth anything? Any info is really appreciated
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