D.O.M. Blogs
NBAA Maintenance Management Conference (MMC)
Customer Service
I am writing this blog post from Anaheim, CA. Our team is exhibiting at the HAI HELI-EXPO 2014 conference. It has been a productive show for us, and I must say I am enjoying the weather – we won’t be getting this nice warm weather in Wisconsin until May!
Meetings and press conferences take up a lot of my time at conventions. Several times in the past two days, I had a company say, “Customer satisfaction is now a priority for us.”
Be Passionate – Be Successful
It’s ironic how things sometimes work out – when he stars, moon and safety wire line up.
I finished sending the Jan/Feb issue of D.O.M. magazine to our printer yesterday. My editorial column was titled, “Have Passion!” It discussed the importance of having a passion for what you do. As the day progressed, passion ended up being the recurring theme.
Performance Reviews
As I was going through my emails today, a blog in one of the newsletters I subscribe to caught my attention. The title of it was Three Tips for Pain Free Performance Reviews, and it was written by Scott Eblin, an executive coach, speaker and author of The Next Level.
Annual performance reviews are a duty of most DOMs and maintenance managers. I have been through my share of them, both on the receiving end and on the evaluation side of it. If proper thought and planning are not part of performance reviews, they are worth as much as the paper they are written on.
Happy Holidays!
It is that time of year – people around the world are celebrating the holidays. Here at my house, we are getting ready for Christmas. As I write this, there are still a few last-minute things we need to get, but for the most part we are done with our shopping and preparation. We will be sitting down with our family on the 25th to enjoy some quality time together.
The Glass is Empty
Negotiation
The topic of negotiation has been on my mind for the past month or so. It seems as if many of our elected officials, especially in Washington, D.C., have chosen to abandon the possibility of negotiation, choosing instead to take hard-line stands on one side or another. Sure, we hear, “We are willing to negotiate….” from many politicians, but if they also say, “I am not willing to budge on XYZ issue,” then that is not the groundwork for negotiation, as we saw with the recent government shutdown.
NBAA2013
NBAA2013 is fast approaching. The staff of D.O.M. magazine is making final preparations for the largest business aviation trade show of the year.
I always enjoy NBAA. It is an opportunity to see what’s new in business aviation products and services and network with the business aviation community. It’s an opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones. It is a big learning opportunity.
Helicopter Maintenance Magazine Launches Helicopter Mechanic of the Year Award
There’s excitement in the air at Helicopter Maintenance magazine’s offices in Wisconsin and Arizona, and we want to share it with you. As the industry’s premier magazine for, by and about helicopter maintenance professionals, we are going to offer an award for the 2013 Helicopter Mechanic of the Year. Following is information on who is eligible to participate and how to nominate an individual.
A Can of Worms…The Emails Continue!
In my editorial column A Level Playing Field in the June issue of D.O.M. magazine, I told the story of Nick, a repair station owner of an avionics repair station in the Oklahoma City area that felt forced to surrender his repair station because of the hassles his PAI was supposedly giving him. (You can click here to read that editorial if you haven’t already seen it.)
This Isn't Over!
Yesterday, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) sent a message out to its members urging them to contact their House Members and ask them to protest FAA ATC Fees. Here is that letter:
Two weeks ago, EAA members and others sent more than 19,000 emails and letters went to U.S. Senate offices urging senators to sign a letter opposing FAA's effort to charge air traffic fees at aviation events, including AirVenture. This is costing events hundreds of thousands of dollars or forcing them to cancel.
D.O.M. Magazine 2013 Awards
D.O.M. magazine is seeking nominations for its second annual Maintenance Manager of the Year and Above and Beyond awards.
The D.O.M. magazine staff introduced these awards in 2012 because it believed there isn't enough recognition for all the extra effort and professionalism that exists in our industry —in particular, there is not enough recognition for maintenance managers that deal with the day to day challenge of running an aviation maintenance department.
Celebrate AMT Day!
NBAA MMC
Gustave Whitehead...First to Powered Flight?
New historical research challenges whether the Wright brothers were first to powered flight; and therefore, whether Charles E. Taylor was the father of aircraft maintenance.
There is a renewed focus going on right now on whether or not the Wright brothers were the first to achieve powered flight. I first noticed the news on a USA today article published on March 19. The headline read, “Could Wright brothers, N.C. lose 'first in flight' stature?”
Who Is Best Qualified to Lead an Aviation Company?
My wife works at a local school district. Last week, a group of teachers and administrative staff got together for an after-work social event.
I enjoyed spending the time walking around and talkng to different people. As I was talking to one teacher, the subject of the newly-hired school superintendent came up. Out of curiosity, I asked him, "Does someone have to be a teacher to be a superintendant?"
"I'm not sure, but I would guess so," he replied. "How can you lead a school district if you have never been a teacher yourself?
Maintenance Duty Times
The Last Week; How Lawsuits Doomed an American Icon
Litigation extortion. That is how I like to characterize the crazy litigious society we live in here in the United States. Some people are all too eager to sue the pants off of companies, raising the price of just about every product we buy as consumers. Those of us in aviation definitely feel the effects of litigation. Talk to just about any aircraft manufacturer or aviation product supplier. Chances are high they have faced lawsuits. It is one thing to file a legitimate lawsuit because of negligence. It is another thing to take advantage of the system to “stick it to the man.”
Rise in Percentage of Female Students in A&P Schools
The percentage of females enrolled in FAA Part 147 schools is on the rise according to the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM). “Although overall enrollment in Part 147 schools is down, the percentage of female students is on the rise,” shares Lynette Ashland, president of AWAM.
AWAM has many opportunities for female mechanics to network including local chapter meetings and its annual event and gathering in conjunction with the International Women in Aviation Conference.