“ When you complain , you make yourself a victim . Leave the situation , change the situation , or accept it . All else is madness .”
— Eckhart Tolle
Thus , there are complainers , and there are doers . Aviation Technical Services ( ATS ) is aware of the workforce situation , but Everett , Washington ’ s successful commercial airline MRO facility is doing something about it . The company ’ s hangar can house ten Boeing 737s indoors . Seth Jacobsen , director of technical training and AMT development , said he loves it when people first tour ATS because of its size . Although smaller than the Boeing Everett plant , it is still massive . As a maintenance repair and overhaul ( MRO ) shop , they need many maintenance technicians and mechanics on staff to conduct work .
Chief People Officer Dayna Eden had a long healthcare career before entering the aerospace industry . She feels that from a human resource perspective , healthcare and aerospace have much in common through “ quality , safety , and compliance .”
She said ATS customers are commercial airlines that must follow aircraft maintenance schedules with oversight from the FAA . Additionally , they conduct work to overhaul aircraft when airlines need to replace seats , Wi-Fi , lavatories , etc .
Public Relations Manager Sherry Bergstrom added , “ Maintenance work scopes grow as the aircraft ages .” ATS maintains narrow-body aircraft , primarily Boeing 737s , and parts for both narrow and wide-body aircraft . They also can conduct airframe modification work for wide-body aircraft outside the facility utilizing tent structures . They also have mechanics in Moses Lake who handle custom interior work for VIP aircraft . Bergstrom stated that they also do Airbus airframe maintenance for the A320 family . She said that being next to Boeing facilitates access to technical data .
Eden commented that many customers are commercial airlines , but they also work for government , cargo , and charter operators .
10 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS