Unless you have been hiding under a rock, it is obvious that the aviation industry, like so many others, is experiencing a “perfect storm” brought on by the combination of rollercoaster fuel prices, the sub-prime market meltdown, and subsequent credit crunch. It appears that the weather is always threatening to be stormy for the aviation industry.
The dramatic economic meltdown in the financial and housing markets in the United States and other global economies has made a major impact in the market for aerospace products and services, affecting all segments of our industry. It appears that throughout 2009, and possibly beyond, the major airlines and the associated regional airlines will continue reducing capacity due to the global economic recession and the continued weakening demand for air travel. As a result, the airlines are closely inspecting all the links in their value chains for ways to reduce cost of operations. As tends to happen, these cost-cutting measures will start to travel upstream to large and small service providers.
Across almost every segment, there is agreement that it appears the shakeout in the aviation industry is accelerating and that the forecasts range from significant revenue loss to contraction and restructuring.
Lions, tigers, and bears
It is safe to note that “change and churn” is the nature of our industry. This is not to make light of the current economic situation, as these times are scary and challenging for both the new hire and the ready-to-retire grey beards. However, these types of industry cycles always bring many opportunities as well as challenges.
In the August 2008 edition of AMT, Bill O’Brien wrote a poignant letter to high school seniors about choosing a career in aviation maintenance. In that article Bill stated that one thing that he had learned in his 45-year career was that “for better or worse aviation is joined at the hip to the world’s economies” and that we need to prepare for and weather these cycles, which is part of being a contributing member of the free market economy.
The Skyway Airlines story
Skyway Airlines provides an example of how the industry can prevail in the face of adversity. Skyway began flight operations in the spring of 1989 as a division of Phoenix, AZ-based Mesa Air Group. Mesa’s Skyway Airlines division operated Beechcraft 1900 Cs and provided service to customers at Midwest Express Airlines in Milwaukee as well as in Rockford, IL.
In 1994 Midwest Express purchased the Skyway division from Mesa. It reincorporated the airline as Astral Aviation Inc., doing business as Skyway Airlines. (Astral) Skyway was a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Express Airlines. At its peak, Skyway operated a fleet of 15 Beechcraft 1900Ds. These planes connected Milwaukee with other communities in multiple states beyond Wisconsin and Illinois, including Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, including flights to Toronto, Canada.
In 1999 Skyway became the world-launch customer for the Fairchild Dornier 328JET. It acquired 12 of these 32-seat jets and provided new service to cities as far as Hartford, CT; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Raleigh-Durham, NC.
In March 2003 Midwest Express Airlines reincorporated yet again, changing its name to Midwest Airlines Astral Aviation Inc. Skyway Airlines also reincorporated and changed its name to Skyway Airlines. In 2006 Midwest Airlines announced that it would obtain additional regional customers from Sky West Airlines, an independently owned airline based in St. George, UT, which operated Canadair regional jets. The SkyWest aircraft would also bear the name “Midwest Connect,” and SkyWest and Skyway would be operating side-by-side.
At the same time, and to add more spice to the Skyway story, Midwest, the parent company, had been fighting a two-year hostile takeover attempt by Air Tran. Air Tran was actively pursuing Midwest in an effort to expand beyond its main hub in Atlanta.
In the summer of 2007 Midwest finally relented to the pressure, signaling it would consider the best and final offer from Air Tran, along with offers from three other potential suitors. The board of Midwest, which had fought Air Tran’s hostile offer for months, rejected Air Tran’s last offer and accepted an offer from TPG Capital, formerly Texas Pacific Group. TPG has invested in carriers such as Continental Airlines, America West, Tiger Airways, and Ryan Air. In mid August 2007, TPG and Northwest Airlines agreed to buy Midwest Air, thus keeping the regional U.S. carrier out of the hands of Air Tran Holdings. The deal would allow Northwest to keep its marketing alliance with Midwest, which primarily flies from Milwaukee and Kansas City, MO.
In a back story conversation with two senior Skyway Airlines maintenance managers, this buyout by TPG and Northwest was welcome news. The new owners had deep pockets and knew the airline and aviation business.
Both Steve Moyer (director of maintenance operations) and Steve Llewellyn (maintenance training manager) felt all the pieces were now in place for stability and then growth when the economy improved. TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines were seen as the White Knights that had ridden in to save the day. TPG Capital had the reputation of buying companies, making changes, and then returning them to profitability. Both managers felt Skyway’s ordeals were finally over, and everyone could focus on managing the organization.
Sadly, this was not to be the case. In an all too familiar airline story, the other shoe soon dropped for Skyway. On Jan. 16, 2008, Midwest Airlines announced that it would terminate all Skyway Airlines flight operations and transfer all Midwest Connect flying to SkyWest. Skyway’s last day of flight operations was April 5, 2008. At the end of flight operations, Skyway operated 12 328JETs and four Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.
View from the hangar
The announcement was most certainly a shock to the 45-member maintenance department, as they had already been through a considerable amount of stress in the prior two years. As Llewellyn states, “We were a quality group; good friends and a close-knit group of professionals. The maintenance team cared for the customers, as well as each other.” When the news was received, he knew that this shutdown was going to hurt more than just the company. This was not just shutting down a company, but breaking up a family.
Maintenance director Moyer echoes Llewellyn’s feeling about family. Many of the mechanics were in their 20s and 30s, and had about an average of eight to 12 years of experience. For some, this was their first and only job in aviation. Skyway was their first airline hire, and some had not been through the stress of layoffs and shutdowns. The shutdown was probably harder on Moyer because he had to deliver the news, as well as fulfill those human resource responsibilities that every caring manager agonizes over.
Moyer states that he was very proud of the maintenance staff as they soldiered on, helping each other and staying strong to the very last workday. There were more than a few tears on that last day as they cleaned out their desks and lockers and pushed their toolboxes out to the parking lot.
According to Llewellyn, morale was pretty low as to be expected in the first two weeks after the announcement, but he emphasizes that the quality of maintenance and aircraft safety were never in question. As the initial shock began to wear off, the Skyway maintenance department began to develop its own coping strategies. In about the third week after the announcement, the team started to pull together and formed support groups. There were group dinners, after hours get-togethers, and plenty of conversations between friends as additional means of providing support and understanding. The maintenance personnel began to see this as an unfortunate experience, but also an opportunity to pull together during the adversity. Llewellyn gave a lot of credit to Moyer for demonstrating that management sincerely did care about the employees, and for providing positive leadership during the transition.
Llewellyn credits Skyway for offering a fair severance package, and he and both the Pilots Union and Skyway’s corporate human resource staff were proactive in assisting mechanics and other affected staff members in finding jobs. The company held regular meetings and provided professional recommendations and networking opportunities for outplaced workers.
Llewellyn also contacted other airlines for additional companies that may have had positions to fill. In addition, he facilitated local job fairs for the mechanics and invited local area companies such as Empire and Vision Airlines, as well as technical companies like Emteq and ECS in for interviews.
Llewellyn wisely points out that A&Ps have job competencies that are valued in many industries, not just the airlines. These include manufacturing, health care, supply and distribution, automotive manufacturing and maintenance, facilities maintenance, communication, transportation, information and computer, technical training, as well as project management and planning. Also an option during economic downturns is making a move to other areas of aviation such as training, quality assurance, management, customer service, or ramp services.
Another option is to move to other segments of aviation, such as corporate and business travel, charter, manufacturing, training, leasing, marketing, salvage, and FBO operations.
This leads me to think about my own circuitous career path. I have performed roles in all manners of positions in hospitality, insurance, information services, retail, and aviation training companies.
One of my all-time favorite jobs was selling sporting and recreation products for companies such as Bass Pro, Outdoor World, and R.E.I. in Dallas, which I fell into after experiencing the effects of an economic downturn. These were extremely fun, exciting, and challenging places to work, and I had the good fortune to meet many happy people that enjoyed sporting activities and also spending big bucks on their equipment. The airlines could do well to study the customer service practices of good retail businesses. The retail business is truly all about satisfied loyal customers and repeat business, because your competitors are also working toward those goals.
Being proactive
What can you do to keep from losing your job in an economic downturn? The truth, in most cases, is nothing. It is too often out of the control of the individual. Major economic events ripple through an industry, resulting in widespread reorganizations, restructuring, changes in ownerships, bankruptcies, and, sadly, business closings. What happens to the individual mechanic is generally the result of these events, and not department or individual production or performance.
Loss of stability and fear of the unknown can put most of us on an emotional roller coaster; the challenge is to maintain a positive attitude. Staying positive is the one thing will help you stay focused, to see opportunities as they appear, and help you to manage the stress that these events generate. Remember that this is not your fault, and you do not hold the fate of your company, or certainly the larger economy, in your hands. Don’t worry about the larger picture. This sounds good in theory, but can be hard to apply in practice.
After 9/11 I was facing a potential layoff, and really struggling to keep focused on my job. It was hard to get through the day. My friend and neighbor, Carl J. Chelette, gave me some significant advice. He is a clinical counselor for the Department of Defense, and spends his days on various military bases counseling veterans and their families. His advice to me was not to struggle or try to deny a layoff was possible or even a certainty. He suggested that during each day I set aside 10 to 15 minutes and give in to my worries. I should think about my worst-case scenario and embrace all the imagined and fearful possibilities. Then after imagining the very worst, start developing some strategies to cope with those scenarios.
Next he told me to not obsess over the negatives and unknowns, but refine my strategies. Finally, “practice my executions” which means seeing some of these events happen and then reacting in a planned and positive way. This worked for me, and after some practice, I was able to mentally move beyond the fear and imagine a positive outcome.
Stay focused
As maintenance technicians we must keep focused on the technical aspects of our job for the safety and security of our passengers and fellow team members. Maintaining the airworthiness of our aircraft and the safety of our crews and passengers is not negotiable, regardless of the economic conditions. We all know that safety is our prime directive that begins on our first day of work, and ends when we lock up and push our rollaway out the hangar door for the last time.
Llewellyn also suggests that mechanics always apply human factors principles and training. If you have forgotten your human factors fundamentals, then go online and access the FAA web site and complete its human factors training course.
There are several other things that you can do if you find that you are having trouble staying focused on your work. First, simply recognize that you are human and that there are many things in life that you cannot control. You may want to try Chelette’s suggestions to start to move out of the emotional state of denial, fear, and anger. Also, try to visualize your environment as a drawing with three circles. The first and smallest circle is your personal circle of control. Consider applying about 70 percent of your effort to those things that you can control directly. The next and slightly larger circle is your circle of influence. Those are things you cannot control the outcome, but that you do influence. Consider spending about 20 percent of your time here. The last and largest circle is your circle of concern. These are things that you are concerned about, but can neither control nor influence. These are concerns with the current financial crisis, global warming, the price of crude oil, diseases, famines, war, and politics. Try to spend about 10 percent of your time there.
In your workplace, acknowledge that you’re concerned, and talk to your supervisor or team members if you feel like it is affecting your focus, and ask for their support. Slow down, read the maintenance manual, and follow your work cards.
Don’t rely on your memory, especially if you’re worrying about a layoff. Always back-check your work, or ask a teammate or quality control person to check it.
There are some principles that, when applied, will work in most challenging situations. Be prepared, keep to your faith, friends, and family, and most importantly, try to keep a positive attitude if adversity comes your way. Time doesn’t stop and things do have a way of working out. The rest of your life won’t be like it is at this moment, although it may feel like it.
Opportunity does come along, often taking you in new directions that you never previously imagined for yourself.
When one door closes another opens …
I asked Moyer how everyone from Skyway was doing after the layoff. Most of the 25 Skyway mechanics have positions that are as good, if not in some ways better than, their old positions. Llewellyn relocated to Minneapolis and is now the technical operations trainer with Compass Airlines. Moyer is still in Milwaukee and is the director of maintenance for Air Cargo Carriers. His new office is two hangars down the ramp from his old Skyway address. He says he still feels a tug when he drives by and thinks about the great maintenance crew at Skyway.
One last word of advice — don’t sell your tools unless you need medicine for your family. Don’t sell your tools, especially your channel locks. You will need them when your buddies come over to commiserate with you and you can’t remember where you put the beer opener.
