27/09
In my experience there is, but once you leave the high end ones its all downhill. Since the LAME has to sign out the work of those AMEs I think the Australian ratio is correct. I cant see how beyond that a LAME can supervise, inspect and do the paperwork to a reasonable standard to discharge his legally mandated safety role.
I once appeared before a Parliamentary enquiry and was asked by an MP why I disagreed with the way my employers maintenance was going. I replied that in the past when I called in a defect to main base we were met by a senior LAME with a manual and an apprentice with tools and a spare part and the defect was fixed. We now had moved to cheaper overseas tradesmen on work visas who spent the whole turnaround achieving nothing due to their poor knowledge and the aircraft was dispatched with the defect open.
The companies line was that the visa guys were cheaper but my position was that surely 30 minutes of an expensive LAME is cheaper than 2 hours of 3 cheaper staff and an open defect.
The company CEO who was on after me was not happy with my position but to me it was his position that was illogical. At the time the MPs took my side of the argument which didn't impress Mr CEO at all.
All this was a while ago now. MPs seem no longer interested in "jobsngrowth" except as a mantra whenever anyone pokes a microphone in front of them, but from what I'm told by my many friends who are still around things haven't got any better.
Wunwing