D.O.M. Blogs

The NBAA Maintenance Conference (NBAA MC) is coming up! Will you be there?

If you are a director of maintenance or maintenance manager, this is the must-attend conference of the year. At the NBAA MC, you can join your peers for three days of high-quality education sessions. This premier event brings together all business aircraft maintenance professionals – from maintenance technicians to directors of maintenance – for critical learning and best practices making this the best place to expand your network and grow professionally.

Yesterday, the FAA joined other countries in grounding the Boeing 737 MAX.

I was contacted yesterday morning by a news radio show that wanted me to discuss the 737 MAX situation on-air. I declined, telling the them, "I appreciate you reaching out to me, but I don’t feel it is appropriate to discuss the 737 MAX or the crashes without knowing what the causes were. I wouldn’t feel comfortable speculating on the matter, especially since I am not intimately familiar with the 737 or 737 MAX."

I'd like to pose the following question: What's in a title? I don't mean the title of an article or book. I'm talking about job titles.

My brother-in-law is a vice president for a large financial institution. How many departments does he oversee? NONE! He has been with the company for so long and has reached a certain level of pay that he was given the title of vice president. He is hard-working and deserves his pay and title. But the title could be deceiving to someone on the outside.

2019 is here. Do you want to get your year off to a good start? Then DON'T make a New Year's resolution!

That's right — by making a New Year's resolution, you are likely setting yourself up for failure. Psychology Today reports that 80 percent of New Year's resolutions fail by February!

I am writing this blog from the road. Last week we were in Orlando, FL for NBAA-BACE. This week, we are in Jacksonville, FL for the ADMA conference. One topic that has come up again and again during these two weeks has been the difficulty of finding qualified mechanics to fill job openings.

West Star Aviation had an open house at its Perryville, MO facility on September 19. Bob Graf and I were in attendance. The last time I was in that facility was in early 2013 when I interviewed Sabreliners' Tracy Ogle for the cover of our March issue. Not that the facility was bad then, but West Star has done a great job giving the place a face lift! It is good to see that it already has customers coming in for work.

As I chat with directors of maintenance, I always like to ask what they look for in new employees. Just about every one of them says that having a positive attitude is at the top of the list. Technical knowledge can be taught, but if someone has a bad attitude, he or she makes life hard for the whole team.

President Trump is on a tariff spree. In January, Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines. He recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. The main reason the Administration gives for enacting these tariffs? Leveling the playing field.

Since the President is of a mindset to "level the playing field," wouldn't he want to address one of the most contentious issues in aviation — outsourcing aircraft maintenance to overseas repair stations?

May 24 is AMT Day. It is the birth date of Charles E. Taylor, the machinist who worked at the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop in Dayton OH and built the engine that propelled the Wrights into history. Taylor is known as the "father of aircraft maintenance."

This year marks 16 years of celebrating AMT Day. Richard "Dilly" Dilbeck was instrumental in getting the first State AMT Day resolution passed in California in 2002.