Harrah's Entertainment had an AMT Day BBQ celebration
at their hangar in Las Vegas, NV
Haggan Aviation Hosts 2nd Annual AMT Day Program
Due to the calendar AMT Day - Charles E. Taylor's birthday was officially Sunday, May 24, 2009, Haggan Aviation, a CRS - 145 Repair Station located at 12420 East Control Tower Road, Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, hosted the company's Second Annual AMT Day Program on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 1130 a.m. There were 59 people in attendance.
This year Haggan Aviation not only invited their AMTs as well as AMTs from the airport and but also invited 24 students (who will graduate next month) and an instructor from Redstone College, Broomfield, Colorado, to join in the festivities. Tom Hendershot, Executive Director of the AMTSociety, made the introductions, and then all the attendees enjoyed a super lunch, including desert prepared and served by Jim and Sean Carter from the Perfect Landing Restaurant (AMT August 2008, page 28) also an industry supporter located at Centennial Airport. After lunch Jim Hopson, Shop Supervisor of Haggan Aviation conducted a tour of the facility, Starting with the library, moving to the hangar, (there were nine aircraft in some form of inspection and/or repair) also including the shop area, paint shop, battery shop, avionics shop, inspection department, and general offices.
Upon completion of the Haggan Aviation facility tour, the group drove to the Anschutz Corporation Corporate Hangar facility where Jerry R. Owen Director of Aircraft Maintenance, Jeff Graser, and the Company Dispatcher Jan, conducted a tour of the Corporate Aviation facility. This was complete from the hangar to the offices and ramp to the airport.
The group then drove to Denver Avionics where Scott Armore, Operations Manager, conducted a short video program, and lengthy tour of the Avionics facility, from the library thru installation in the hangar on several aircraft. Everyone had the opportunity to observe all the aspects of the importance of the avionics on today's aircraft from a glider, single engine aircraft, a Model 23 Lear Jet, and an Eclpise Jet.
Dan Tancrede, President D&G Quality Services, Inc, Scott Armore, Jerry Owen, Jim Hopson, Jeff Graser, and Tom Hendershot addressed the entire assembly and answered questions for all.
At 1600 the program concluded. It was indeed a great day. One which Charles E. Taylor would certainly enjoyed.
American Airlines Holds Mini-Maintenance Skills Competition
To help celebrate AMT Day 2009 American Airlines held a mini-Maintenance Skills Competition (MSC) where a team of management AMTs competed against a team of TWU Local 565 AMTs in four events that were also held during AMTSociety's MSC in Las Vegas on March 10-12, 2009. This mini-MSC was held to remind people that AMTs have the same responsibilities across the spectrum of our industry. The events included a safety wiring, GIV main wheel removal/installation, Charles E. Taylor written test, and an electrical/avionic troubleshooting. Each event was given 20 minutes to complete and the total time used from each event plus any discrepancies assessed by the respective event judges were added together to calculate a final overall score for each team. The Union team won.
American Airlines also purchased a bronze bust of Charles Taylor from artist Virginia Hess to have on display at DFW's maintenance hangars. Plans call for having this bust on display at the terminal in the future so the public can see who the first aircraft mechanic was and in turn think about those skilled professionals who maintain AA's fleet of aircraft. To help unveil this bust were Ken Durst, AA VP line maintenance; Blair Gregg, Southwestern regional manager; and Bob Redding, AA executive VP operations.
Baker's School of Aeronautics - Nashville, TN
This year, it took three chefs to grill all the hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbecued bologna for the more than 140 attendees at the 5th annual AMT Day picnic hosted by Baker's School of Aeronautics in Nashville, TN. The grill masters were Eddie Baker (Baker's School), Orville Hale (Trade-A-Plane) and Michael Hosseini (Extended Stay America). Attendees enjoyed the music of the McMurray blue grass band and more than 40 door prizes were awarded.
AAR MRO Leaders Participate in Career Day at E.F. Young School
In celebration of AMT Day, AAR MRO leaders, Darrell Sims Sr., VP People Programs, and Rayner Hutchinson, VP Quality & Safety, along with Greg Dellinger, AAR's director of recruiting, participated in a very special career day at E.F. Young School in Chicago. As it was in Charles Taylor's time, the most important issue facing our country is an educated work force. The AAR MRO Group thinks it is imperative that the North American MRO industry as a whole come together in order to inspire women and under-represented minorities to consider the professional development opportunities within the industry. To that end, Sims, Hutchinson, and Dellinger honored Charlie by encouraging the students at E.F. Young School to develop their mechanical talents.
AAR Indianapolis Recognizes the Achievements of over 500 AMTs
AAR Indianapolis celebrated AMT Day on May 20 with the leadership team stepping up to the grill cooking burgers and dogs for all of the AMTs and support team. The MRO took time to recognize the achievements of the 500 plus AMTs at the facility that have earned FAA training awards which included five Diamond Award recipients. The Indianapolis facility also received the Diamond Award for the fifth straight year for 100 percent participation in the program. In addition to the training awards AAR Indy recognized the team's hard work and the progress made in implementing lean processes and improving the value of the product provided to the customer. AMT Day at AAR is about recognizing the achievements of our people and celebrating our profession, said Danny Martinez, vice president and general manager of AAR Indianapolis.
Banyan Technicians Celebrate AMT Day
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Banyan technicians have been extremely busy with extensive avionics installations, large airframe inspections, King Air BLR installations, Lear 31 ZR Lite installations, and other Raisbeck modifications. However, on May 21, they took time to enjoy a catered lunch in recognition of AMT Day.
Banyan's President, Don Campion, addressed the group and thanked them for their dedication and commitment. "Our maintenance and avionics teams display a mindset of continuous improvement and are determined to give extraordinary service. Our teams face challenges head on with a mind-set of See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It. We have purpose...passion...perseverance...and at Banyan we measure results so we can manage our activities."
Campion recognized a number of technicians for their longevity to Banyan; in avionics, Steve Ouellette (16 years), Gus Gomez (12 years), Paul Krug (9 years) and in maintenance, Les Bowser (20 years), Terry Schuler (14 years), Murray Zacharia (12 years), Anthony Bessellieu (11 years), Gary Johnson (11 years), Curtis Florio (11 years), and Dave Valenta (10 years).
The official day for AMT Day is May 24 which originated as a tribute to the first Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT), Charles E. Taylor, who built Orville and Wilbur Wright's engine. However, since 2002, AMT day has grown in scope and recognition with more and more aviation companies acknowledging it. For more information, visit, www.amtausa.com.
Banyan located at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), employs 50 maintenance and avionics technicians and has a total of 150 teammates company-wide. Banyan's maintenance facility specializes in King Air, Citation, Pilatus, and Learjet inspections and modifications and Banyan's avionics facility specializes in cabin entertainment systems, flight deck upgrades, and office in the sky solutions for turboprops to Boeing Business Jets.
Banyan Air Service is an FAA and EASA approved repair station and holds Argentine, Brazil and Venezuela government maintenance and avionics approvals. Banyan also recently received Bermuda avionics approval. In addition, the company offers, FBO and ground services, aircraft sales and management, Hangar63 (Banyan's Aviation Store) and TropicAero.com (on-line store and catalog division.)
