Attracting and Keeping Mechanics

I have had a few calls and e-mails the past few weeks regarding IA renewals, so I want to start off this week's posting by giving my fellow IAs a friendly reminder -- the March 31 deadline for completing your IA recurrency requirements is fast approaching. Remember -- the FAA revised the requirement for renewing our IA certificate to once every two years. NOTHING changed in regards to our annual recurrency requirements. We still need to meet those annual requirements by March 31 of this year. Then between April 1 and March 31 of next year, we need to meet another year's annual recurrency requirements and go into our local FAA office and have them renew our certificate. For those that continue to practice their IA responsibilities after March 31 without meeting recurrency requirements, they will be in violation of the FARs and subject to FAA disciplinary action. You can reference FAR 65.93 to review IA renewal requirements. Now for the meat and potatoes of today's blog. It has to do with the future of aircraft maintenance. Many of you take time to comment on this blog, and I appreciate your participation in this public forum. One of my most replied-to postings in the two years I have been blogging was "Future of Aircraft Maintenance?" from November 2006. To date it has received 52 comments. In that posting I asked, "What can we do to help recruit more youth to pursue aircraft maintenance as a career? What can we do as aircraft maintenance professionals to help raise the interest level in aircraft maintenance?" Well I got just about every sort of response from very positive to negative. It reminds me of a comment we received from a reader four years ago in response to a salary survey question. He said, "Don't become an aircraft mechanic -- A piano player in a whorehouse gets more respect than we do!" Reading the ongoing responses to that blog, it is evident that quite a few readers are fed up with the industry. Here's today's question. For those of you that are fed up with the industry, are considering leaving the aircraft maintenance career field, or for those that have already left, what would it take to change your attitude? Money? Respect? Job conditions? Working hours? Advancement opportunities? I don't necessarily want to hear why the industry is bad. I want to know what it would take to change your attitude -- what changes would it take to satisfy your career goals and aspirations? I am not just soliciting feedback from those fed up with the industry. If you are happy with your job situation, let us know why. What makes your job fun? What motivates you and pushes you to excel? Why do you find your career choice rewarding? Thanks in advance for your feedback. Joe Escobar