Report NBAA Atlanta

Last week I attended NBAA Atlanta, as I reported in this month’s AMT. Over the years I have been fortunate to be present at many of these conventions, 36 to be accurate, so I believe I can report with some degree of correctness on the event. While all those I talked to during the three days were optimistic and positive about business aviation there were signs that the industry is still in the throes of the recession and will be for some time before this changes. Little things, like very few give-a-ways at the booths, and empty booths at three o’clock, hours before the show closed. Don’t get me wrong. Not all the booths were empty, just a lot of the smaller exhibitors. One negative … I don’t like the Atlanta Convention Center. There is something about the separate halls that takes away the unity of the event. I found it interesting riding the escalator up and down a couple of times each day between halls … passing friends and business acquaintances like they were ships in the night. I did attend the NBAA Maintenance Management Committee meeting and had the opportunity to chat with Eli Cotti, NBAA’s staff manager of the committee, and Brad Townsend, Chairman of the committee. This group takes its role in our industry seriously and is doing excellent work in advancing the career path of the aircraft technician. The committee is divided into subcommittees so that there is greater focus by the members on the various challenges maintenance professionals face. For instance there is the technical committee, the management conference group, a communications unit, just to name a few. This is a very active group working toward the establishment of higher standards for technicians and with that, greater recognition for the job that aviation maintenance professionals do. Those of you that work in this arena would be well served by going online at the NBAA web site to see some of the accomplishments of this group of dedicated professionals. It would also be good to participate in the airmail account and see what your peers are doing and how, together, they have solved problems some of which could be yours. One event that I particularly enjoyed was doing a webinar with John Goglia on the ATP, Ask Bob web site. This was a first for me and it was a distinct privilege having the opportunity to work with John, a man who has done so much to advance the recognition of aircraft maintenance professionals. The subject of the webinar was The Technician of the Future. We had a small audience that included the FAA’s division manager of AFS-300, so we were on our good behavior … just kidding. We were free to say our minds and, as those who know John know, he always does. We covered a lot of areas, from the economics of the time and all the lost jobs, going both overseas and by cutbacks, to the effects of the expanding regulations here and abroad. We also discussed the efforts of many to advance the recognition of the aircraft maintenance professional and, as said often by this writer, all agreed this could only be done by technicians themselves stepping forward. An analogy we came up with is that the aircraft technician can, to some extent, best be compared to the nursing profession. First and foremost, both are underappreciated and underpaid for the responsibilities assumed. It was pointed out that economics has driven the nursing profession to three levels. There is the entry-level limited-practice nurse or LP, the degreed registered nurse or RN and, the highest level, the nurse practitioner or NP; the latter generally earns close to six figures a year which is well earned, as each has advanced her or his responsibilities significantly. John and I see a comparison here to the technician of the future. There will be many without licenses repairing aircraft under the supervision of licensed technicians and then there will be those technicians that have advanced their training and education, especially the latter to succeed to some level of higher responsibility overseeing human factors, budgets, schedules, and the like … in summary, having bottom line responsibility. Maybe you agree with this and perhaps not. If not, what do you see for your and your peer’s futures? I would be interested in knowing. As this is my last blog for 2010 I would like to thank those of you who have read my ramblings and especially those that have participated by commenting. Frankly, the comments were great and on point. Keep it up.