Moritz “Mo” Conrads recently was promoted to senior maintenance manager of Spirit Airlines operations in Orlando, Florida. He’s working on a master’s degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and he’s one of Spirit’s most active AMT recruiting managers.
“This career is so rewarding. If you like to tinker, if you like to work on things, if you like to understand machinery and the magic of flight, then this is the career to get into.” While visiting schools in an effort to attract top talent for line maintenance operations, Conrads shares the same with students to encourage them into the aviation field.
He also shares his story of being a mechanic, working his way up to supervisor, then line maintenance manager at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and now senior maintenance manager.
“It only matters how hard they want to work and all the other opportunities will fall into their place,” he says.
And, he adds, “It’s a global career path and it only depends on what they want out of it and it will be offered to them throughout their career.”
Conrads has a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Maintenance Technology from Lewis University. To obtain an MBA in aviation, Conrads is taking online classes to learn more about leadership and how to be more efficient, create a culture and run a cost-effective business.
“An MBA will only strengthen my skills within the organization,” he says.
“If I know how to make certain projects enticing for the finance department or can find a way to incorporate the maintenance aspect in other departments, then people can understand the maintenance department while the maintenance department can get stronger within other departments and can kind of get what we need.
“It's almost like an insurance policy that you need the maintenance team to make sure that things run smoothly. ... When you have a strong maintenance department that works efficiently, that keeps things running, and is always on top of the situation, that just makes everyone happy because they know things are reliable and structurally sound for the operation to take bumps and will not crack under pressure.”
