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MARCH 2016 AviationPros.com 25 MAINTENANCE MATTERS planes at MSP are CRJs, wide bodies, and narrow bodies. Sitting at the gate ready to make sure the plane is pushed on time will be a Douglas, Eagle, JBT, TLD, or Lektro brand, electric, gas, diesel or even hybrid push back. To add to the complexity, those push backs could be 5, 10, 15 or 20 years old. (They may actually have a carburetor, which is something baby boomers are famil- iar with but their children may have never seen, just like a cassette tape player, pager, or pay phone.) They don't teach this stuff at tech school. How many of the assets used for those 16 touches of a plane's turn have similar variations? Fuel trucks, belt loaders, ground power units, air starts, catering trucks and more, all have wide variations and typically feature aging feets. A retiring GSE mechanic possesses a virtual encyclopedia of tribal knowledge that is not readily passed along to his/her replacement. The Capacity Conundrum There won't be fewer planes fying. There won't be less cargo being moved. We can't replace the work force with self-service or self-checkout (which is becoming a norm in other service industries). There will be more work and fewer GSE mechanics. The average American worker produc- es 6.5 hours of work in an average 8 hour day. The GSE mechanics in our company are measured and perform higher than that every day. They have to or those 70 planes don't turn and those passenger expecta- tions won't be met. Though over the past 12 months, we've added 50 new jobs (about four each month), we know that it is possible that 1% of our team (or two mechanics) will approach retirement age every day sometime in the near future. Finding replacements will be more and more challenging. The existing work force is approaching capacity. To be successful, GSE maintenance com- panies must have a clear strategy to address the Capacity Conundrum. They must: X Have a quality maintenance system that is auditable. Quality maintenance measurably impacts effciency (yielding more productivity). X Invest in training more deeply than ever before. Capture and share the tribal knowledge. The new technicians aren't going to come from the GSE industry, but they'll be more productive if training exists to help them assimilate quickly. X Apply Lean principles to the fow of the shop. GSE mechanics will be required to be more productive than the average worker. Despite a 20 minute ground stop and f lying dead into a 150 knot wind, my fight from MIA to MSP arrived on time. We pushed back from gate H17 fawless- ly. While on the tarmac and in the air we were comfortable. The plane was clean, the snacks and beverages were available, and all of our luggage was accommodated. We arrived at G13 and our baggage arrived at the carousel just a few minutes after we did. It appeared, at least for this day, the work of the GSE mechanics had been successful despite 70 fights per hour. Will we be able to keep up with the demand? That is the conundrum. YOU choose Columbus Jack/Regent because our Service Quality Reputaton POP! JOIN US at MRO 2016 Celebrate 80+ years of excellence Enjoy a free BAG OF POPCORN on us! www.columbusjack.com MRO Booth 3509 AviationPros.com/10134078 There won't be fewer planes fying. There won't be less cargo being moved. There will be more work and fewer GSE mechanics. Will we be able to keep up with demand?