Maintenance Offshoring

Yesterday was my first day back in the office after taking some time off during the Christmas holidays. After I cleaned out my inboxes (both on my desk and e-mail), I sat down to write this week's Technically Speaking blog posting. As I prepared to write my blog, I scanned the wires to see if any news items caught my eye. A news story on maintenance offshoring caught my attention. The story may sound familiar. Large airline decides to establish a maintenance base in Asia to save money. Union wants five percent pay raise for its members. Airline offers three percent. Airline's 1,700 mechanics threaten industrial action. Company counters by unveiling contingency plans to offset any industrial actions by rescheduling flights and hiring non-union licensed former employees to replace them (at salaries that are twice what the airline's current mechanics are making). But this is not a story of the struggles between a U.S. carrier and its mechanics. It is of Quantas. The article appeared in the December 27 issue of theage.com.au. Reporter Scott Rochfort notes the airline fueled anger among staff when it announced plans to establish its first heavy maintenance base in Asia in partnership with Malaysia Airlines. The article goes on to note that Quantas says the new base will only serve as an "overflow" facility when its maintenance facilities in Australia are booked out. Odd, but why would an airline build a new maintenance base in a foreign country only to use it as an overflow facility? Wouldn't an investment of that magnitude mean more than just occasional maintenance work would be sent there? Maintenance offshoring is a trend that affects mechanics around the world. Airlines around the globe are looking at all options when it comes to saving money -- especially when it comes to maintenance costs. You can read the entire article by clicking here. Thanks for reading! Joe Escobar