Stores or Inventory Control

Its something that I never really thought of until I got my first job at an airline. When we work on airplanes we use a lot of parts. Keeping up with how many parts are used, how many parts are needed for the next nights work or even just the daily operation at a Line or Hangar Station is a very important job. Over the years I have known a lot of Stores Clerks and can not underestimate the importance of this job.

When I worked at a repair station overhauling engines I was responsibile for figuring out the parts I needed and ordering them. If I forgot to order something or it was not in stock it was a big deal for my engine so I took care to do a good job and it made me realise the importance of inventory control.

At Delta we had a tremendous stores system with robots and vacuum tubes etc. If you needed a part you went to the stores shack, ordered what you needed and most times in about an hour you had what you needed. When you work at a hangar you have the advantage of having most parts available to you.

Once I got to Ameriflight I was able to witness how stores operates in a Line type of station. Although we worked in a hangar we still ordered parts from our main base in Burbank allowing us to only keep the most used parts in our stores. The guys and gals in stores there were really good at keeping the place stocked with everything we needed and I do not remember many times when we had to wait on parts.

Here at Southwest we have no Hangar. The closest major base, as far as stores is concerned, is Pheonix. The art of keeping our base stocked is trickier here than at any other job I've been at. We use a tremendous amount of parts on a daily basis and our stores clerks have to be on top of their game to keep up with it. From lightbulbs, oil, window wash, slat actuators, ADI, MCPs, etc. It's a daily battle to stay ahead of it. When we do not have a part we order it from Dallas, or Houston, or Pheonix but that means the ac is down. At Southwest when we have a grounded plane we lose money. Southwest does not have a lot of spare aircraft like other airlines and generally uses all of the planes we have which puts even more responsibility on the stores clerks shoulders.

In my time I have known some really good stock clerks and some not so good ones. The way we operate it also helps when a stock clerk is willing to run parts to us at gate calls, look up effectivity, help us out when we have a road trip etc. Don't take the stock clerks for granted. They have a very important job and when you have a good stock clerk you definetley know it, when you do not have a good one it makes for a really bad shift.