TillerTemptress

I keep thinking MX can't get any worse here, and then it does.

ShooterMcGavin

Deferred is preferred

BobbyLeeSwagger

I would just say, be respectful and even grateful and kind if possible to our line techs. Sometimes they get on my nerves too, but they dont have the tools to succeed a lot of times. It starts at the top. They have no real/organized training program, a dysfunctional management & culture in my opinion, and an aging fleet. Imagine getting here from flight school, doing your CBT'S, and then going to IOE. and the rest you will learn from kind-hearted captains who want nothing better than to train you to fly the jet on the job

It's all the frustration our new hires have when they get to the line with 0 info on how to bid, or basic contract help x10. And they gotta figure it out on the job. Sometimes they get new failures and have to figure things out on the fly. Its not a 1-1, but imagine a mechanic saying.. wow. You dont know the implications of a WOW sensor failure??? Are you a pilot here?? Sheesh. But then you say.. well. I have some understanding but I will have to follow this particular QRH checklist for the first time etc.... with 80 people watching and waiting...

So I try to cut them some slack, be less assuming.. and more grateful. And sometimes they still get on my last nerve. But. We need each other to succeed in this job.

Ps. I write this of my own volition

BobbyLeeSwagger

And one more thing and then I will get off my soapbox. Some flight attendants can be incredibly rude to our mechanics about things they have no idea about, because that is the tone that is being set by the captains. So just remember that your rudeness rubs off on the rest of your crew when the mechanics come to help you out. And if there are a lot of them coming at once, often, there is 1 or 2 that knows what to do and is trying to teach the others because that is literally our training program. So keep the "wow how many mechanics does it take to fix this?" comment to yourself

https://youtu.be/tsxVGb2d9dw

TransWorld

I really applaud your soap box items. Spot on.

One more thing to add about mechanics. As much as we know of the massive retirement wave and hiring needed for pilots (and FA, too.) everyone should be aware there is a massive retirement wave and hiring needed for mechanics as well.

As a CA does coaching and on the job training for new FO, mechanics are doing that as well. You learned about it in class and hands on training. Now watch me do it and I will point out things you didn’t learn. Now I will watch you do it, and coach you the first few times you do it.

It is the classic apprentice and journeyman for crafts that have gone on for centuries.

FlytheSky

Your SO didn't make you write that, BobbyLee?

Seriously, though, I'm right with you. I always make sure to high five the mechanics or shake their hand (so what if it's greasy and dirty? The lav is right there to wash up) and say thank you for their work. I've had a couple make bonehead decisions (i.e. try for 40 minutes to swap a digital audio panel, then swapping them back after realizing they shouldn't have been swapped and the radios themselves needed to be swapped - and yes, that was CPZ mx, not contract mx), but the same can be said for any department at Compass (forward slip into SAN, anyone?). In fact, I've run into several fantastic, friendly, helpful, and supportive mechanics at Compass. When I ask them about something that's going on, their answer is usually "we don't have enough people" or "we don't have enough parts." Those two problems can't be fixed by the guy fixing or inspecting something on your plane...

As I was asked in the Compass interview years ago: "Who is the most important employee at the company?" The answer: "It sounds tacky, but I'd say everyone. Without pilots, the airplanes wouldn't fly anywhere. Without flight attendants, the airplane couldn't take people. Without mechanics, the airplanes wouldn't be airworthy and so they couldn't fly. Without ground support personnel, the airplanes wouldn't be catered, loaded, and fueled." Just because you're at the "front desk" with the best view in the house doesn't mean you're the most important person there. You might have final authority as PIC, but other people are just as important and necessary to complete the mission of getting people from point A to point B safely.

/end rant

BobbyLeeSwagger

Good word, homie. I wrote it on my own for sure, but I did make sure it was duly noted for brownie point purposes.

Taco280AI

I'm so used to not having an APU that I often forget to turn it on approaching the gate when we actually have one that works.

I don't blame MX, I'm sure they're doing the best they can with what is available to them. This problem, like the others, comes from the top.

FlytheSky

What's the exchange rate between brownie points and fudge-covered Oreo points? Asking for a friend...

week

To weigh in on the MX
Saw a guy in the airport in Embraer outfit and lanyard, he saw the compass hat and came up to me and asked if I was Compass.

He was at a medium/high level st Embraer MX and he went OFF quite passionately about how in all his time at Embraer he had never seen a MX department that was so ‘impossible to work with’ noting that he was surprised we were able to stay afloat. Said the problem is at the top, not the bottom. According to him, Company refuses to follow a lot of their preventative MX recommendations and he was very very passionate about how frustrated they were. Showed me pictures on his phone of parts of one of our birds that I dare not repeat on APC. Recommended I “get my hours and get out” before 2020.

I have met another pilot that shared a similar experience with this same guy. Take it all with a grain of salt, but IMHO this guy was legit.

Again, though, like Bobby said. The techs are great and they’re just as frustrated with what they have to work with. Good people.

Also worth mentioning.... who would have guessed it would be hard to staff our MX base when we put it in the most expensive place to live on the planet