West Star Aviation has long held a respected spot in the aviation world. The company’s list of accolades grows every year.
In February, the FAA lauded the company through its FAA Awards Program. The company's East Alton, Illinois, and Grand Junction, Colorado, facilities received two AMT Gold Awards of Excellence; and its Denver, Colorado, and Perryville, Missouri, locations received two Diamond Awards of Excellence.
Customers and industry leaders also laud the company. Respondents in Professional Pilot Magazine’s Annual Preference Regarding Aviation Services and Equipment (PRASE) survey voted West Star Aviation as Number One in Preferred Maintenance and Repair Overhaul (MRO), marking the eigth consecutive year the company received this distinction. And Garmin recognized West Star with a Platinum Award for Elite Performance in 2019.
Communities also recognize the MRO for its efforts, particularly in sustainability. For six consecutive years, the State of Colorado has named West Star Aviation as a Gold Leader in the Colorado Governor’s Environmental Leadership Program (ELP).
But awards only go so far in the competitive MRO environment. The rubber meets the road when market forces challenge a company, and here, West Star Aviation’s light still shines. As the pandemic shattered global business and aviation, the firm continued to grow with staff members who worked tirelessly to meet customer needs.
The company sprang into action, enacting safety protocols and procedures to deliver a healthy environment to both customers and employees. They adopted a company-wide mandatory mask policy long before the government did, installed hand sanitizer and hand washing stations throughout every facility, built work teams to limit employee exposure during the workday and started second-shift operations to complete jobs faster in a disrupted industry.
Few employees got sick. And, if they did, other employees pitched in to keep the operation’s wheels moving. And customers’ work continued without a hiccup.
When asked what kept the organization humming during the disruption, CEO Jim Rankin credits a loyal staff and loyal customers and a corporate culture worth emulating. He says employees remained flexible and worked hard to support customers and each other.
Amid pandemic challenges, industry labor shortages and a disrupted aviation industry, West Star Aviation thrived. In fact, Rankin reports revenue continued its upward trajectory.
“Taking care of the customer and each other is something employees take to heart,” Rankin said. “It’s just the culture of the company. That’s not something you create overnight or in the middle of a crisis. But it’s something that has guided West Star for decades. In a crisis, that culture takes over.”
Putting operations to the test in a disrupted industry is not something Rankin wants to repeat. And, it looks like he won’t have to — at least for 2021. “Demand has come back very strong,” he noted. “Hopefully, as we see an end to the pandemic, this trajectory will continue.”
Expanded Shifts Expands Output
West Star Aviation expanded second shifts at four full-service locations to improve overall efficiency and turn times after managers found the move could reduce return times over 30 percent.
He noted, “Reducing turn times is always a plus. We want customers to get in, get their work done and get back to flying.”
The company hasn’t finished staffing its second shifts. But Rankin reports even with limited staffing, the move helps West Star finish more work in a day. Operating two shifts speeds repairs and “gives us more bandwidth to absorb unexpected variables on major jobs,” he explained.
West Star added new technology to facilitate on-demand training as it expanded staffing during the pandemic. The on-demand tech training represents a larger initiative aimed at maximizing efficiencies throughout the organization.
West Star developed and implemented a new Learning Management System (LMS) and equipped technicians with iPads to help them complete virtual maintenance training provided by industry partners and in-house technical experts. “The result is a technical team that is always up-to-date with requirements from valued customers, partners and vendors,” noted Rankin.
West Star captured technical experts performing certain tasks to create a video training library for newer technicians to reference. The effort speeds their development and professional expertise. “Technicians can stay at the aircraft and order parts, check out maintenance manuals and review and update their training with the new system,” Rankin explained.
Apprenticeships Address the Labor Shortage
Boeing’s Pilot & Technician Outlook 2019-2038 revealed a need for 193,000 aircraft maintenance technicians by 2038 in the U.S. alone. The report predicted a greater need in the Asia-Pacific region, which will require 266,000 new technicians. Other countries will face similar constraints: Europe will need 137,000 technicians, the Middle East 69,000, Latin America 52,000, Africa 27,000 and Russia/Central Asia 25,000.
West Star Aviation identified the potential shortage a while ago, training its focus first on keeping the folks it has, then on attracting new people to the fold.
West Star is winning on the retention front. The company employs 1,500 people and some have stayed with the MRO for 20 to 40 years. “Our existing employees are a huge source of strength. We work hard to create a collegial, team-type environment, where people feel valued and that they are contributing to a larger cause,” Rankin said.
He believes paying employees well and providing the right kind of support boosts retention. The company offers opportunities all over the globe and partners with employees to keep them growing in their careers. It even helps spouses and children settle in when moving to a new location.
“I like to say very few customers come to West Star because Jim Rankin works here, but they come in droves for the folks working on their airplanes,” he said. “The best way I can support the customer is making sure our employees have the proper tooling, training, opportunities and support.”
The company also places a high value on attracting new workers through apprenticeship programs. West Star offers apprenticeship programs that start as students work to get their A&P. The company also offers apprenticeship programs for employees hired without their A&P. These students use the apprenticeship to master needed skills on the job before taking FAA certification tests.
“We conduct outreach through job fairs and traditional channels, but we also have very extensive involvement in apprenticeship programs so we can attract people to the industry very early in their schooling and career decisions,” Rankin explained. “We have apprenticeship programs in both tracks because you don’t have to go to school to get your A&P.”
West Star also doubled its efforts to promote aviation careers in high schools and employs college students part-time, hiring many of them upon graduation. “We invest in their future by putting theory into practicality and help them learn more about emerging technologies that are not part of the college curriculum,” he said.
West Star has 40 apprentices, 12 of which were hired in 2021, 11 who are one year into their program and 17 who will graduate next year.
The company also assigns a mentor to new hires and apprentices. This seasoned employee helps new hires advance through technician levels I, II and III and into supervisory training if they desire. The LMS gives new hires a path for growth, offering training modules for each level.
“Having a technical mentor is great when technicians come to us right from school,” he said. “They get them acclimated to the company and its processes. We also hope to assign a career mentor to ensure their career progresses the way they like. Employees can start in one position but move to another if they want to work in that area. We would rather employees move throughout the company than leave it.”
Good Corporate Citizens
West Star sees sustainability as one of its core leadership pillars. The company embarked on its green journey in 2007 and has cultivated a culture of sustainability that resonates with every employee and permeates every facet of the business. “Business has a responsibility to be good corporate citizens,” said Rankin. “Companies should make the world a better place than they found it. That’s true with the environment and sustainability efforts.”
West Star’s commitment to sustainability has saved the company money. In fact, where West Star once spent $50,000 per quarter to ship 28 different waste streams off site, its average quarterly spend for the same service today is around $16,000. Recycling has cut its waste streams to 17. The company now recycles electronics waste, aluminum, rubber, cardboard, paper and even office supplies.
Though West Star has been a member of the Colorado ELP since 2008, the company amped up its efforts in 2013 to reduce hazardous waste streams by upgrading parts washers to biodegradable/recyclable solvents, reducing its fleet of gasoline/propane powered equipment and upgrading to electric-powered equipment/vehicles.
More recently, the company sponsored the local school district at its GJT facility, which encompasses 46 schools, 3,000 employees and 22,000 students. West Star mentored the district through the ELP application process.
The district entered the program at the highest level, gold. West Star continues to work with students in the Math Engineering Science Achievement MESA Program where their efforts helped coordinate recycling drives to fund science projects, design and build charging stations, and establish in-school recycling stations.
An Eye Toward the Future
West Star won’t rest on its laurels as it pushes toward the future, according to Rankin.
The company constantly looks for ways to grow and provide better service. But every change focuses on whether growth benefits both customers and employees. “We strive to have an environment of continuous improvement, but if growth doesn’t benefit customers and employees, it will not be sustainable,” he noted. “We always look at every change through the lens of how it benefits these groups.”
Ronnie Wendt owns and operates In Good Company Communications, a copywriting firm that specializes in writing about aviation-related topics.
