Taking professional pride to a new level
Are you proud to be an Aircraft Maintenance Professional?
In my years as an aircraft maintenance professional I have witnessed many individuals who take pride in our profession. They are proud of their technical knowledge, attention to detail, honesty and integrity and their record of accomplishments. But there are a few people that go beyond feeling proud about their personal accomplishments. Those few want to celebrate the profession and leave a legacy for the aircraft maintenance profession so there is no doubt in the public’s eyes of the contributions that have been made by dedicated aircraft maintenance professionals.
One of these people I have had the pleasure to meet is Ken MacTiernan. He is a mechanic for American Airlines, but that’s just his day job. For the remaining waking hours of his day, MacTiernan is also the director and founder of the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association (AMTA). He is also a board member of AMTSociety, organizer for the annual AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition, fund raiser, father, husband — and I’m sure I left some things out that I haven’t learned about him yet!
According to AMTA’s website (www.AMTAUSA.com), the association promotes the “proud craft of the Aircraft Maintenance Professional.” MacTiernan employs the history and image of Charles E. Taylor, the Wright Brothers’ mechanic, as a cornerstone for recognition of the aircraft maintenance professional. He has raised money for and placed Charles E. Taylor Busts in at least nine prominent locations around the country including a bust at the Smithsonian’s Tomas F. Udvar-Hazy Center — no small feat, considering each bust costs more than $6,000. He is currently raising funds to place one at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum at the mall in Washington DC.
And that’s not all AMTA has accomplished. Spearheading AMT Day at the National and State levels and recent efforts to rename key roads at airports after Charles Taylor are some of the other endeavors AMTA has pursued.
If you get to know MacTiernan, you begin to realize that he is not motivated by his own accomplishments — he is motivated by the work that has been and is accomplished by the aircraft maintenance profession as a whole. Mechanics not only keep aircraft flying — they have played a critical role in the development of aviation from the very beginning, and continue to play a key role in safety improvement and product development.
If you want to help MacTiernan in his efforts to gain recognition for the role that mechanics have (and continue to) played in aviation, go to www.amtausa.com and you will find information to contact him.
One more note relative to being proud to be an aircraft maintenance professional — I ran into Pat Napolitano, an A&P/IA from California, at the NBAA show in Vegas last month. We spent a few minutes chatting about aircraft maintenance and D.O.M. magazine. In the discussion, Pat spoke of his experiences getting his IA and related to me that he demonstrates his pride in his profession with a vanity license plate. Shown below is Pat’s plate.
Are you proud to be an A&P? Do you have a vanity license plate related to aircraft maintenance? If you do, send me a photo and I’ll share it with everyone on our website www.dommagazine.com.
Finally, as this is the last issue of the year for D.O.M. magazine, I want to thank all of you that read and continue to support YOUR publication. D.O.M. is looking forward to a prosperous 2012 for everyone. Please enjoy our inserted 2012 calendar and visit our sponsors frequently (and don’t forget to tell them you saw them in D.O.M. magazine).
Greg Napert, Proud to be an A&P