Time to pay up tuition and get in kids..

[chowda]

h-u-m-i-D-U-H-t-y

nice try changing words

[NeverBlue]

Ok...whatever you say.

[PT6_Nation]

I'd like to chime in on the actual topic here, I'm not at the best section in aviation, but its where I got my start 3 years ago, and will be getting licensed very shortly, and in my short time I've seen wage freezes, cut-backs in tooling, man power, and basic shop supplies, disrespected, and disregarded by management in favor of high school educated administrators and department managers. And I thought I was the lucky one compared to the other 70% of my graduating class that never got a job in aviation, who probably got to make the same money, changing oil at Pennzoil, with less stress, no unpaid overtime, or wondering if there's still going to be a paycheck in 6 months. And for others I talk to in aviation, its no gravy train either, sure there are a FEW happy, but mostly underpaid, overworked, mistreated, and often exploited. So updates like this just further reduce my faith in my career choice, I love it, but loving your job doesn't get the bills paid. I could have much easier stayed in the automotive sector and been much more stable plugging a computer into a car and having it tell me the problem, but I thought working on aircraft would net better results.

I rarely comment on this forum because I so often see the crap show that starts over people speaking the truth about this industry, but hopefully if someone's on the fence, they can take my experience into account to decide if liking your work is worth this much heartache.

And NeverBlue you work in a small niche sector of aviation as an E licence. Over 80% of graduates from colleges will be M diploma's looking for work to become AME M1's or M2's, so preaching about how good your situation is doesn't favor the majority, there is something to say about having the right attitude and work ethics, but that doesn't 100% guarantee sustainability or success either.

[blackbird_007]

Right attitude and work ethnics? Sometimes I wonder what it REALLY means.
I always thought it is to do the right thing, to protect the safety of the general public and do maintenance within a certain standard.
Recently I just learned the right attitude and work ethnics mean completely different things in today's aviation standard.
For work ethnics, all they really care about is the quantity (instead of quality) and saving money. For right attitude, that means you better sign that paper whenever the boss asks you to. I hope other places are not like mine.

Sometimes I feel like working at some local garages have better ethnic standard. At least I know the cars will not fall out of the sky.

[Stumper]

Well said.

Thanks for chiming in and bring it back on topic PT6_nation.

[Troubleshot]

There is no doubt starting out is tough, standing your ground can be a very stressful situation for any AME. I've asked myself on multiple occasions "is stressing out this much for $24-26/HR really worth it?" The answer is no. You think an HD mechanic worries about standing his ground on a snag...ha nope.

And if you've never been asked to pen-whip an inspection/snag as an ACA AME you either just started, work in a component shop, or you've worked at a major airline your whole career. I will admit it has never happened to me at WestJet, not really the atmosphere there, but rest assured it has happened to me more than once at other operators.


remember it is not the job itself that is in the toilet, it is the aviation industry that sucks. Once people start to figure out the industry is generally on shaky ground you'll start to see a decline in experienced workers, I am not sure what that means for the industry to be honest. Either there will be a major shortage of aircraft technicians or the wages will increase to offset the hole....problem is there is no money. The margins in aviation are the tightest of all the large industries...hence all the ups and downs, lay-offs, etc...

I really see safety as an issue in the coming years. SMS, apprentice heavy AMO's, cost cutting, etc...


If you are a young person with a good technical ability, run far, far away from aviation. if you don't you'll regret it at some point, you can bank on that. But hey if you think planes are cool, you deal with stress well, and personal wealth is low on your priority list, well then...step right up!!!!

[rubberboot]

The margins in aviation are the tightest of all the large industries...hence all the ups and downs, lay-offs, etc...

...and this is the real issue with the industry. If the airlines/charter/MRO were to charge more for their services (so we can get a raise), the customer will take there airplane to the lowest bidder, to maximize shareholder value or money invested into the project. We can't charge more, unless the entire industry does.

for example, WestJet say charges $400 one way to X destination. they want to raise it to $425 now, but Jet Blue flies same route, with a lower cost structure (owns nothing, pays nothing, charges for everything) and charges $300 for same route or maybe even with an extra stop. so WestJet doesn't have a choice, they cant raise the fee to a sustainable growth level, and if they want to stay in the market actually have to lower the fee. If you honestly think service level matters more than dollar value for the average customer, then you have your head in the sand.

My wife told me when she bought our last tickets to Florida-return, she got an excellent price. My answer to her was "that's the reason I can't get a raise..." Unfortunately, it is simple math.