The Outsourcing Debate

Although I have not heard anything about this recently I guess the pending merger of American Airlines and US Air has brought this debate back up. Most major airlines currently outsource their heavy maintenance. While this is nothing new, think TRAMCO and the like, the newer trend is outsourcing to companies that are not in the USA.

This is a trend that I do not think will slow down or stop anytime soon. Of course the unions are up in arms over this (who can blame them) but the truth is that personnel is one of the highest costs for any airline.

There is the nagging question of regulation at these MROs that are outside the country but I feel that they are being addressed. The FAA requires the MROs to operate with similar regulations as any MRO inside the states-but-who is doing the regulating?

I don't think that any airline would get rid of ALL their maintenance to go the full foreign MRO and contract MX route. They know that NO ONE would take care of the planes as well as their own employees.

Anyway check out this link to read the article that brought all this up in my mind:

Congress Wary of Outsourcing Aircraft Maintenance-Roll Call Policy

The Man Is Trying To Shut Me Down

I have said it before and I will say it here again, "I love my job" and I love working at SWA. This is a company that has done amazing things and could very well have a bright future (depending on how we handle some of the critical things we are dealing with now).

As any one who has read my blog can plainly see from my writing I only have good things to say about working at SWA. All of my blogs are carefully written to show SWA in a very good light. I may complain about some of the people that I work with or such but never about the company.

So it was a very big surprise to find out that Corporate Security has decided to ask me to stop with the  blog. Actually I think they had a problem with my picture that I include on the blog more than anything. While I love writing this blog, my job is more important!

I always thought that I was being an ambassador for our Line Maintenance department and tried to shed light on what I think is a very misunderstood and mysterious (to many of the flying public) industry.

So, what does this mean?

Well I think I will continue my blog but I will not be able to relate many of the stories and personal accounts that happen to us. I'm sure that I can't include any pictures of SWA planes. I think that writing about the industry is ok and I'm sure that Corporate Security will not care about me reviewing tools and trends in this wacky world of aircraft maintenance. I have waited a good month to write this as I pondered how to approach this event and the above is how I plan to go about it.

NOT a SWA plane!

For those who read my blog thanks and I will continue to try and write about an industry that I fell in love with when I was 14 years old and began my journey at Aviation High School in NY.