Mechanic (Engineer, Technician) Shortage
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Another article on the shortages of LAE's from the latest edition of the ALAE Tech Log magazine ( http://www.lae.mcmail.com )
Royal Aeronautical Society Seminar
A group of Members attended a seminar on February 22nd at RAES Headquarters in London.
Keith Rogers gives us his report.
The subject was ' The Report of the RAES Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Task Force', which stemmed from a previous paper entitled 'The Challenge for the Future in 'Aircraft Engineering'. (This was reported by Mike Newman in issue number 250 - June)
The remit of the task force was to investigate the shortfall in the numbers of Licensed Aircraft Engineers and mechanics and
the reasons why.
The President Elect of the RAES, Trevor Trueman, welcomed everybody and introduced the speakers. The opening speech was given by Sir Malcolm Field, Chairman of the CAA. He gave an insight into the shortages, the causes and the problems the industry could face in the future. The next speaker, Roland Fairfield, a consultant and RAeS council member, illuminated Sir Malcolm's speech with various statistics shown on overhead projections. I have to thank him for allowing me to use some of them here. There followed speeches by Phil Hosey, Director of Quality at Fls Aerospace. John Parkinson, EC Relations Manager - Aviation Group of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, who was there to express the
Government's concern and suggest what they might be able to do to help.
So - what is the problem? It has been established that there is a growing shortage of LAE's and skilled workers in an expanding industry. The reasons are far ranging and can be seen below;
1) Decline of the UK's industrial and manufacturing base (many skilled workers were drawn into the industry from companies
such as Avro. de Haviland. Hawker, Vickers and Scottish Aviation. Because of the demise of such companies, there is now a gave shortage of skilled sheet metal workers)
2) The peace dividend which means the armed forces are contracting in size and so there are far fewer highly trained engineers leaving and wanting to continue in civil aviation. (These first two have been traditional recruiting grounds for the civil
aircraft engineering industry.)
3) National and international economics which have caused companies:
(a) to contract, cut their costs etc to remain competitive
(b) not to invest in their workforce through training and apprenticeships
(c) to operate with the minimum number of engineers in order to keep costs down, but at the same time increasing their
workload
4) Changing society - where the national education curriculum reflects the changing industrial base of the country and the
skilled artisan is now the person who understands computers and finance, where people want to make a quick buck for
minimum effort instead of spending long years in training for a job where they get their hands dirty whilst working in unsociable
conditions.
5) The industry does not promote itself.
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
It has been calculated that the percentage shortfall of licensed aircraft engineers in the industry, including general aviation, are
as follows:
% SHORTFALL NOW NEXT YEAR
Licensed Avionics Engineers
16.3 16.1 (131)
Licensed Mechanical Engineers
7.0 10.1 (216)
Licensed Avionics Engineers
(excluding British Airways)
23.0 23.0
Licensed Mechanical Engineers
(excluding British Airways)
10.0 14.8
The figures above are for the industry as a whole and so include General Aviation. Because BA has the highest utilisation
of LAE's in the industry, the second set of figures have been given to Show, a more representative picture of the industry.
Over the last five years the number of new licensed engineers has averaged 87, which is equivalent to less than 1% of the
total 11,500 CAA AMEL holders at the end of 1998. Of the 11,500 30% reside overseas, 14% are over 60 years of age and 6% are in non-certifying positions.
The number of LAE's in the industry over the past 15 years has remained fairly constant at around 8-9000, whereas the number of aircraft has increased from 7000 to 14000. Last year saw for the first time, the number of large aircraft exceed the number of small aircraft. This can be evidenced in the number of start up airlines like Easyjet, GO. Buzz etc.
The industry has been in a spiral of decline over the past 15 years, companies have had to cut costs, training has been reduced, salaries have been reduced comparatively (up to a few y ears ago the salaries of aircrew and LAE's ran almost parallel, but now aircrew salaries are climbing away), staff have become disillusioned, morale has sunk-. LAE's have left the industry altogether or have become nomadic in search of higher rewards. Those who remain have been asked to do more and more (often through excessive amounts of overtime, which in the long term may increase sickness and stress rates) and
the number of maintenance related incidents has increased.
The message that came out of the seminar was quite clear. The industry has to do something to put itself on the night track.
Nobody, else can rectify the situation. It is a case of 'physician heal thyself'. Sir Malcolm made it clear that any companies
which did not have enough LAE's would be shut down or their operation suspended. So what can be done?
1) Companies should promote their engineering divisions in schools, colleges and within the careers advisory services.
2) Companies should make a job in the aero engineering industry more attractive.
3) Companies should invest in their engineering departments with more training especially more modem type
apprenticeships
4) They must have a good salary structure, which recognises the responsibility of LAE's
5) They must have a well-defined career structure, which, with item 4, will go towards improving the status of Licensed Aircraft Engineers.
John Parkinson of the DETR stated that while he could not reveal what their recommendation to the government would be, he said that they had been looking at way s of providing a legislative frame work which will persuade employers to recruit at ab-initio level. They had also been looking at funding of training. There should be no VAT on training or it should be recoverable. He indicated there was possible scope for Government to assist the industry to make it more attractive.
Keith Rogers
[This message has been edited by spannersatcx (edited 14 May 2000).]
Royal Aeronautical Society Seminar
A group of Members attended a seminar on February 22nd at RAES Headquarters in London.
Keith Rogers gives us his report.
The subject was ' The Report of the RAES Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Task Force', which stemmed from a previous paper entitled 'The Challenge for the Future in 'Aircraft Engineering'. (This was reported by Mike Newman in issue number 250 - June)
The remit of the task force was to investigate the shortfall in the numbers of Licensed Aircraft Engineers and mechanics and
the reasons why.
The President Elect of the RAES, Trevor Trueman, welcomed everybody and introduced the speakers. The opening speech was given by Sir Malcolm Field, Chairman of the CAA. He gave an insight into the shortages, the causes and the problems the industry could face in the future. The next speaker, Roland Fairfield, a consultant and RAeS council member, illuminated Sir Malcolm's speech with various statistics shown on overhead projections. I have to thank him for allowing me to use some of them here. There followed speeches by Phil Hosey, Director of Quality at Fls Aerospace. John Parkinson, EC Relations Manager - Aviation Group of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, who was there to express the
Government's concern and suggest what they might be able to do to help.
So - what is the problem? It has been established that there is a growing shortage of LAE's and skilled workers in an expanding industry. The reasons are far ranging and can be seen below;
1) Decline of the UK's industrial and manufacturing base (many skilled workers were drawn into the industry from companies
such as Avro. de Haviland. Hawker, Vickers and Scottish Aviation. Because of the demise of such companies, there is now a gave shortage of skilled sheet metal workers)
2) The peace dividend which means the armed forces are contracting in size and so there are far fewer highly trained engineers leaving and wanting to continue in civil aviation. (These first two have been traditional recruiting grounds for the civil
aircraft engineering industry.)
3) National and international economics which have caused companies:
(a) to contract, cut their costs etc to remain competitive
(b) not to invest in their workforce through training and apprenticeships
(c) to operate with the minimum number of engineers in order to keep costs down, but at the same time increasing their
workload
4) Changing society - where the national education curriculum reflects the changing industrial base of the country and the
skilled artisan is now the person who understands computers and finance, where people want to make a quick buck for
minimum effort instead of spending long years in training for a job where they get their hands dirty whilst working in unsociable
conditions.
5) The industry does not promote itself.
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
It has been calculated that the percentage shortfall of licensed aircraft engineers in the industry, including general aviation, are
as follows:
% SHORTFALL NOW NEXT YEAR
Licensed Avionics Engineers
16.3 16.1 (131)
Licensed Mechanical Engineers
7.0 10.1 (216)
Licensed Avionics Engineers
(excluding British Airways)
23.0 23.0
Licensed Mechanical Engineers
(excluding British Airways)
10.0 14.8
The figures above are for the industry as a whole and so include General Aviation. Because BA has the highest utilisation
of LAE's in the industry, the second set of figures have been given to Show, a more representative picture of the industry.
Over the last five years the number of new licensed engineers has averaged 87, which is equivalent to less than 1% of the
total 11,500 CAA AMEL holders at the end of 1998. Of the 11,500 30% reside overseas, 14% are over 60 years of age and 6% are in non-certifying positions.
The number of LAE's in the industry over the past 15 years has remained fairly constant at around 8-9000, whereas the number of aircraft has increased from 7000 to 14000. Last year saw for the first time, the number of large aircraft exceed the number of small aircraft. This can be evidenced in the number of start up airlines like Easyjet, GO. Buzz etc.
The industry has been in a spiral of decline over the past 15 years, companies have had to cut costs, training has been reduced, salaries have been reduced comparatively (up to a few y ears ago the salaries of aircrew and LAE's ran almost parallel, but now aircrew salaries are climbing away), staff have become disillusioned, morale has sunk-. LAE's have left the industry altogether or have become nomadic in search of higher rewards. Those who remain have been asked to do more and more (often through excessive amounts of overtime, which in the long term may increase sickness and stress rates) and
the number of maintenance related incidents has increased.
The message that came out of the seminar was quite clear. The industry has to do something to put itself on the night track.
Nobody, else can rectify the situation. It is a case of 'physician heal thyself'. Sir Malcolm made it clear that any companies
which did not have enough LAE's would be shut down or their operation suspended. So what can be done?
1) Companies should promote their engineering divisions in schools, colleges and within the careers advisory services.
2) Companies should make a job in the aero engineering industry more attractive.
3) Companies should invest in their engineering departments with more training especially more modem type
apprenticeships
4) They must have a good salary structure, which recognises the responsibility of LAE's
5) They must have a well-defined career structure, which, with item 4, will go towards improving the status of Licensed Aircraft Engineers.
John Parkinson of the DETR stated that while he could not reveal what their recommendation to the government would be, he said that they had been looking at way s of providing a legislative frame work which will persuade employers to recruit at ab-initio level. They had also been looking at funding of training. There should be no VAT on training or it should be recoverable. He indicated there was possible scope for Government to assist the industry to make it more attractive.
Keith Rogers
[This message has been edited by spannersatcx (edited 14 May 2000).]
Guest
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Well Hippy here in the U.K. it seems that the biggest problem is,as some people have already mentioned,that a school leaver ain't going to want to stick his/her arm round the u bend of an a/c toilet just to get it out on time.They would rather spend their time in an office in front of a computer generating paperwork for us and getting paid more than us for doing so.Can't say I blame them! BUT come the day when the industry realises that it's taken us for granted it may be too late.In the company that I work for I reckon you could count the amount of skilled metal workers @ LHR on your fingers.Some might say that you don't need to have this skill,but how are you going to fix that dink that the caterers have just left you eh? Think on industry bosses when you decide how many apprentices you can "afford" this year & the next,cos this situation is going to bite you on the bum if you ain't careful.British Aerospace & the R.A.F. can't keep the industry in young blood like they used to.It's up to you management types to make our deal a bit sweeter & then you might encourage people to join/stay in this game. 
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Spannering the gap (:-)
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Spannering the gap (:-)
Guest
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Well gents, what are we gonna do to get the guys in the front office to finally pay us what we are worth?
Its been told to some guys in our hangar by the V.P. of Maintenance that quote "If we're here and motivated by greed, I hope to see all of you push your boxes out the door!"
Now if this is the attitude of managers all over, we are in for a long hard fight. Unfortunately, I dont think a lot of my co-workers are up for it.
We're not union here and for some unknown reason the guys wont vote one in. I think most are scared that they will lose the 4 on 3 off schedule they have and that the raises wont amount to anything much but will be eaten up in dues. So we continue on making it day by day as more leave our ranks.
I have heard from the CEO directly that we are NOT one of the majors and we wont pay what they do.
So what are the guys like me do, who have been here for several years and have enough senority to hold dayshift with weekends off?
Management here has a take it or leave it attitude. We have guys leaving the aviation field all together to work on Forklift trucks in a warehouse making several more dollars per hour than they were making here.
I would have left already, but for medical reasons and the lack of insurance right way at the prospective companies, I have to stay put.
For those who are interested, Aviation Week and Space Technology had a few articles a while back, on the impending MX crisis. I will email them to anyone who asks. They are quite long to be posted here...
Its quite interesting and raises some good questions for the guys in the suits...
Maybe when they have to start parking airplanes because their is no one to work on them, will the come around...
------------------
Don't like it? Don't look at it!
Its been told to some guys in our hangar by the V.P. of Maintenance that quote "If we're here and motivated by greed, I hope to see all of you push your boxes out the door!"
Now if this is the attitude of managers all over, we are in for a long hard fight. Unfortunately, I dont think a lot of my co-workers are up for it.
We're not union here and for some unknown reason the guys wont vote one in. I think most are scared that they will lose the 4 on 3 off schedule they have and that the raises wont amount to anything much but will be eaten up in dues. So we continue on making it day by day as more leave our ranks.
I have heard from the CEO directly that we are NOT one of the majors and we wont pay what they do.
So what are the guys like me do, who have been here for several years and have enough senority to hold dayshift with weekends off?
Management here has a take it or leave it attitude. We have guys leaving the aviation field all together to work on Forklift trucks in a warehouse making several more dollars per hour than they were making here.
I would have left already, but for medical reasons and the lack of insurance right way at the prospective companies, I have to stay put.
For those who are interested, Aviation Week and Space Technology had a few articles a while back, on the impending MX crisis. I will email them to anyone who asks. They are quite long to be posted here...
Its quite interesting and raises some good questions for the guys in the suits...
Maybe when they have to start parking airplanes because their is no one to work on them, will the come around...
------------------
Don't like it? Don't look at it!
Guest
Posts: n/a
We had a new VP of maint a few years ago tell us the same thing. "Don't like it here? Quit" That started a work slow down. Yes, we took a few casualties, but mainly from the scammers amongst us. We are still here, and the VP was "laterally transferred" to equipment service.
The Aviation Week issue was very good. They even said the evil phrases "Pay" and "Working Conditions". Maybe someone will notice before the house of cards falls down.
The Aviation Week issue was very good. They even said the evil phrases "Pay" and "Working Conditions". Maybe someone will notice before the house of cards falls down.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Do not kid yourself about the Aussie ALAEA. They have let the companies get too far in restructuring, now making themselves useless to all, as the LAME's are now too fragmented on serious issues, even between ports in the same company.
If they are so great, why are 20+ year licensed engineers being paid the same as a first year F/O with a regional airline flying a SAAB340? We used to have some parity with the Airline Captain, now we are far far behind, and as we are not considered 'Militant' we get crapped on by all companies.
They are no better than unions elsewhere it is just that there has been so much featherbedding over the years, there is a gross oversupply in Aus. However, it will come to an end in another five or so years, as retirements of the baby boomers come into play here.
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When all else fails, read the manual!
If they are so great, why are 20+ year licensed engineers being paid the same as a first year F/O with a regional airline flying a SAAB340? We used to have some parity with the Airline Captain, now we are far far behind, and as we are not considered 'Militant' we get crapped on by all companies.
They are no better than unions elsewhere it is just that there has been so much featherbedding over the years, there is a gross oversupply in Aus. However, it will come to an end in another five or so years, as retirements of the baby boomers come into play here.
------------------
When all else fails, read the manual!
