2023 AMT 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professional: Ciaran Argue — Aircraft Maintenance Technician, Southwest Airlines

Ciarán Argue, who has EASA and FAA aircraft maintenance licenses, has experience and knowledge in commercial aircraft across the world.  

His training began in Shannon, Ireland, where he had an apprenticeship with Lufthansa Technik for nearly 3 years. After the apprenticeship, he continued with Lufthansa Technik doing base maintenance until 2015. When he left Lufthansa Technik, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work for BAE Systems and was there about 4.5 years supervising the team that did maintenance checks on the Royal Saudi Air Force training aircraft (Pilatus PC-P 9 and PC-21).  Next, he moved with his wife to her hometown, Los Angeles. For over a year, he worked at the Qantas line maintenance facility. When COVID hit, much of his work focused on the storage and preservation of the A380.  

Today, at Southwest Airlines, Argue is a RON (remain overnight) aircraft mechanic.  

Having done aircraft maintenance in three countries, he said, “All of it is very much the same. Obviously, the cultural changes are very different from Ireland to Saudi Arabia to America. The biggest difference I feel is just working under the different regulations, EASA, Saudia Arabia, FAA.” Argue clarifies it’s not the maintenance that’s different, it’s the paperwork, polices and procedures.  

Wherever he is, Argue said he strives to be the best that he can be.  

“I love learning new things,” he said. “The great thing about aviation is you never stop learning.”