The FAA is redefining who drug and alcohol testing rules apply to, and new standards for AMT awards.

Wing Aviation Joins Forces with McKinney Aerospace

Texas-based maintenance and refurbishment companies Wing Aviation and McKinney Aerospace have formed a strategic alliance to serve business jet maintenance customers. The alliance is intended to provide all the services needed, taking advantage of the strengths of each company.

"The goal is that together we have a full menu," said Wing Aviation chairman and CEO John Wing, "of the highest quality, most timely, most cost-competitive services available anywhere in the world."

For customers, the alliance will be like working with one company. "If a customer comes in through McKinney or Wing Aviation and needs a combination of paint, interior, avionics, or maintenance, " Wing said, "then we will provide those services as if it were one company. And those services will be priced as if it were one company, and there will not be inter-company markups."

McKinney Aerospace has specialized in interior refurbishment work and avionics, and Wing Aviation's strengths are maintenance and paint. Wing recently opened a new paint hangar that will greatly increase efficiency and allow the company to paint more customer aircraft because the stripping area is now permanently separated from the paint shop. Now, said Wing, "we don't have to clean a dirty hangar each time [we want to paint]."

For interior work, the job will be done either at McKinney, north of Dallas, or at Wing's facility in Conroe. In either case McKinney Aerospace technicians will do the work. And the job won't take longer if the airplane needs to move from facility to facility. "We make sure to work in parallel, not in series," Wing said. "We're always looking at what's best for the customer."

Wing, who is famous for overseeing construction of Teesside, the world's largest gas-fired powerplant, in England and as a major investor in the Boston Beer Company, sticks to the fundamentals when it comes to serving customers. "Whether it's the power business or Sam Adams beer or the aviation business," he explained, "if you have that highest quality, most timely service at a competitive price and you create a workplace that is the absolute best you can make it for your employees, and you manage and lead well...the challenges are different, but the goal is the same, accomplish what the customer needs and take care of the people with you. We try to do best at both. We give it our best shot."

Dale Hickl, maintenance supervisor for Halliburton's flight department in Houston, Texas and a recent customer said, "It has the feel of a small shop, with personal service." He added, "We don't feel like we need to be there 24-7. The invoices are predictable and in line [with expectations]. The work is done as advertised, in a little more of an affordable fashion. If there is a problem, it's well communicated. Probably the biggest thing," he said, "is that invoices are ready to go, you don't go home with a situation where you're arguing about the bill for months afterward. We're very happy with the quality of maintenance."

Drug/Alcohol Testing Rules to Affect Subcontractors

The FAA is determined to require any person performing any kind of safety-sensitive function on any part of an aircraft to be covered by drug/alcohol testing regulations. Under a May 17 supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, the FAA signaled that it no longer will let subcontractors who do not take airworthiness responsibility avoid drug and alcohol testing. The SNPRM is available at http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p78/281188.pdf and the comment period ends August 16, 2004.

The FAA is defining "safety-sensitive" fairly broadly. In the SNPRM, the FAA stated: "Whenever maintenance is being performed, it potentially affects the safety of the aircraft. Thus, the FAA believes it is important that all people who perform any type of safety-sensitive maintenance function be subject to testing, even if the maintenance duties are not traditionally considered to be aviation-related."

This proposed rule will be "costly and impractical, while offering no meaningful safety benefit," said a statement issued by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. Indeed, the SNPRM cites no statistics as to real safety problems caused by the use of alcohol or drugs by subcontracting personnel in the aviation aftermarket.

The lack of a verifiable safety problem doesn't appear to be a problem for the FAA, which believes that it is simply clarifying existing regulations, not imposing new rules. The FAA estimates the cost of this clarification at $3.57 million from 2004 to 2013. One assumption in developing the cost model was the avoidance of one Part 135 charter accident attributable to maintenance during the next 20 years, involving an estimated 2.5 fatalities and half a destroyed airplane.

The FAA admits, however, that alcohol and drug misuse isn't even a problem, but nevertheless the agency is forging ahead with this rule-clarifying effort. From the SNPRM: "While there have been no documented aviation accidents directly attributed to the misuse or abuse of drugs or alcohol, the FAA believes it is possible that such misuse or abuse may have contributed to aviation-related accidents."

"ARSA is extremely disappointed that the FAA appears determined to finalize these proposals in spite of the extensive record that they are not necessary in the interests of safety," said ARSA general counsel Marshall Filler.

Colorado Celebrates AMT Day

May 24th, the birthday of Charles Taylor, has been designated AMT Day by 23 states including Colorado. This event was celebrated on the 24th on the ramp at the Frontier Airlines gates at Denver's International Airport. Tom Hendershot, director, AMT awards program of Frontier Airlines, organized the event, which included speeches from Travis Vallin, Colorado state aeronautics director, state representative Buffie McFayden, and state senator Sue Wendels. A cookout was held in two shifts with burgers and bratwurst for all shifts working that day. Charles Taylor II, the great grandson of aviation's first mechanic gave a presentation on the life and history of Charles Taylor.

Charles Taylor was the Wright Brother's mechanic and built the engine for the Wright flyer in just six weeks with the only metalworking machines used being a lathe and a drill press. Taylor, an unsung hero of history, has become the patron saint of mechanics and May 24th was chosen to be AMT Day to honor him.

There are 15 states with pending resolutions and there are 14 states that have yet to achieve this tribute to aviation maintenance professionals. Hendershot is helping several states with their efforts to pass resolutions. For more information about how to pass an AMT Day resolution in your state, contact Richard Dilbeck at 916-422-0279, ext. 229 or go to www.amccommission.com .

AMT Award Winners Announced, Eligibility Requirements to Grow Greater

The FAA had planned to release in mid-June a draft advisory circular updating the employer eligibility requirements for the Aviation Maintenance Technician Certificate of Excellence Award. The revised AC has higher percentages for the ratio of employees who receive AMT awards to the total number of employees. The new percentages are: Bronze, 20 percent; Silver, 40 percent; Gold, 60 percent; Ruby, 80 percent; and Diamond, 90 percent.

Anyone will be able to submit comments to the draft AC for a 90-day period after it is published. To view the draft AC, see www.airweb.faa.gov/rgl and look for AC 65-25C.

On May 18, the winners of the 2003 Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards Program prizes were chosen by random drawing. The winners and prize donors are:

Delta Airlines Grand Prize, four-night vacation, Thomas E. Tindal; Aircraft Electronics Association, AEA 2005 Convention trip, Rita F. Bussie; Aircraft Maintenance Technology Magazine, $500, Elmer R. Santos; Aircraft Technical Publishers Regulatory Library, Jeff Allen; Alaska Airlines, first-class round-trip tickets, Rodney Leblanc; Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance, membership, Edward Garorko; Aviation Data Research PMA Parts Finder CD-ROM, Garth Morganthal; Aviation Maintenance magazine, quarter-page advertisement, Jonathan R. Harnish; Baker's School of Aeronautics, Inspection Authorization course, Wilsenn G. Tan; CAE SimuFlite, maintenance initial training event, Thomas Scales; Electronics Inc., Shot Peening and Blast Cleaning workshop, Paul V. Stickles; FlightSafety International, online Principles of Troubleshooting Course, Guy Taniguchi; Frontier Airlines, round-trip ticket, Jack Bowling; Professional Aviation Maintenance Association, membership and clothing items, Dan Killian; Skyway Airlines, Two round-trip tickets, Michael L. Bradick; Superior Air Parts, Hawkeye Borescope and Fluke Digital Multimeter, Phong Cong Nguyen; TData, regulatory library or subscription to MTrax maintenance-tracking software, Andrew Thomas. TIMCO, Snap-On gift certificate, Edward J. Zwaduk; US Airways, two roundtrip tickets, Debra D. Alford; Women In Aviation International, registration to annual conference and membership, Lisa Kirkelie, Aviation Exteriors.

In other AMT Award news, beginning with the 2004 AMT Awards Program, all entries must be submitted on 8 1/2-inch by 3 3/4-inch application forms. Submitters may use the official FAA form (available from their local FAA FSDO) or they may produce a form in the correct size, provided all necessary contact information is included on the form (name, employer/school name [if applicable], address, phone, e-mail).