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Passenger prevents lengthy delay - fixes faulty plane

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Jul 6th 2009 at 3:00PM

A passenger on a Thomas Cook flight became the hero of the day when he was able to fix a fault on the plane that was scheduled to bring him and his fellow passengers back home from Menorca.

The plane had developed a fault and was destined to be stuck at the airport for 8 hours awaiting the arrival of a UK based mechanic.

Instead of waiting for this, the passenger identified himself as a licensed mechanic with an affiliate of the airline, and was cleared to perform the maintenance work.

After a brief repair, the plane was on its way back home with just a 35 minute delay, instead of the 10 or 11 hours it would have taken if the plane was made to wait on the UK mechanic.

From now on, I'd like the airlines to load a mechanic on any of my flights, along with a doctor and a decent chef. The airline announced that they were "very grateful he was on the flight that day". I'm sure the passengers share that sentiment.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

TheAirlineBlog.com Jul 6th 2009 6:14PM

Heh, that is a pretty awesome story. Most of the time Doctors or Law enforcement get to be the flight heros, but now an engineer gets to!

David Brown
www.theairlineblog.com

Mike Jul 7th 2009 10:46AM

I can hear him now....."Anyone have a paperclip and some nail polish?".

DAVID Jul 7th 2009 6:24AM

the people were luckey he was there

Megan Jul 7th 2009 12:17PM

I was a manager at a "burger joint" and didn't make anywhere close to that. Faulty facts.

Dave Jul 7th 2009 6:44AM

Yes, they were lucky he was there. A licensed Airframe and Powerplant mechanic spends years getting his or her training. They are not paid well, yet they keep all the pax alive as a result of their efforts. It takes a minimum of two years of school and several as an apprentice or no school and 3,000 hours logged with another licensed A&P before you get signed off to take a written test followed by a practical test in the hanger. They are lucky to make $60K a year after many years of service. Startuing pay today........... wait for it ................ $15.00 to $20.00 per hour depending upon the region you live / work in. A manager at a burger joint makes more with much less responsibility. If there is a crash guess who gets visited first? Ye- - the A&P. The A&P signs off on every job he or she does and m any require a further inspection by an A&P / IA (someone with inspection authorization - yet another leverl of years of service in and yes, another written test). Those folks were luck he was on board and willing to sign off too. Also lucky he had access to the parts and tools required too. :-)

pete Jul 7th 2009 10:08AM

I was makeing $25.82 per hour when my employer lost the part of the contract I was working under. I was let go after almost 10 years with them. I started at United Airlines in San Francisco in 1997 at $13.07 per hour. I had more than 30 years experience as an A&P, but the union contract called for every new hire to start at the bottom of the pay scale, no exceptions. I has just reached $20.87 per hour in 2001 when 9/11 hit, and was laid off.

Ken Dalton Jul 7th 2009 10:46AM

Hi Dave,
Fellow A&P, Hat's off to the mechanic (not flight engineer or engineer), JOB WELL DONE !!!!!
Ken

R james Jul 7th 2009 12:40PM

A very good point of view. I trained to be an engineer for close to eight years and continue to learn to this day. If I asked a doctor the same hourly fee for my services as he charges me, he would think me quite mad. Many professional and artisan careers require long, complicated training periods and yet do not receive compensation near to that of doctors and lawyers whose training often takes equal time and study. I do not deny them this inequality but often think how nice it would be to get $200 for a ten minute consultation like my family GP does.

Ken Jul 7th 2009 6:04PM

Good Question, but the answer offers very little merit.
I was an A&P (Airframe & Power Plant Mechanic) for American Airlines for almost 15 years, and fell under the Union that represented the baggage handlers. Don’t get me wrong, every job is important; it’s just the liability exposure that coincides with the task being conducted. If your bag is damaged or missing you can relate, but mistakes on part of an A&P could result in loss of aircraft not to mention the most important precious payload, LOSS OF LIFE. The A&P Mechanic’s Title of Mechanic was reduced to Technician due to de-rating the profession from skilled to semi-skilled (pay-related), Very Sad but true. If you are a Plumber or an Electrician, you would be considered a skilled laborer, something the Airlines were trying to avoid. It’s really something for EVERYONE Think about in the future when the time, money, and sacrifice is invested and required from an individual, (who we put our lives in their hands) that are held to a Very High Standard, is equally yoked to an individual that can be trained to perform a job in just days. I left maintenance since then, and perused a flying career. Currently a Captain in the corporate sector, but never forgot the true passion of being an A&P.

jbjg24m Jul 7th 2009 6:53AM

AND JUST HOW DID THE AIRLINE REWARD HIM FOR HIS TIME AND TROUBLE ??

Shannon Jul 7th 2009 10:12AM

jbjg24m said "AND JUST HOW DID THE AIRLINE REWARD HIM FOR HIS TIME AND TROUBLE ??" ----- your very comment shows the problem with people today. Everyone expects something from you - no one can do anything selfless or show any act of kindness without expecting a pay out. It's disgusting! The airline didn't ASK this man to work on the plane - he volunteered because he didn't want to wait on their mechanics to get there. He avoided a long delay, was thanked by the airline and even had an article printed about his story - how much more should he get for doing someone a favor? Geez!

Martin Jul 7th 2009 1:22PM

Shannon----- The airline should give him and everyone on the plane a free trip. The A&E saved them a ton of money in fees for being very late over something they CAN control but their management and executives chose not to have the PROPER number of people available to service their customers. The airline CHOSE to eliminate expenses that are crucial to customer satisfaction and the success of their airline. BET YOU MONEY they DID NOT cut expenses in CEO and executive pay though!!!!!!