After almost 2 years of unemployment and premature retirement, it looks like I will be going back to work soon. That is if I pass the wiz quiz and background check. The nice part is, I will be working with most of the same people, in the same office I did before, with more money. Just a different company and airplanes.

 

Cougar, it is about time that you have gotten some good news on the employment front and I for one hope it works out very well for you

 

Congrats, Cougar!

 

Looking official now. I start Monday.

 

How was the first day back at it?

 

Kaos best describes it. Office is not set up. Only one computer works properly. The training teleconference failed to work. Mess.

 

So it was business as usual...

 

The more I learn about this company, that would be a yes. You know the old adage; "Today we accomplished the improbable using very little. Tomorrow, we attempt the impossible using nothing". At this point, it looks like we will be building this department from the ground up using any rubble we can find.

 

Hey Coug, congrats on your new job. What planes are you /will you be working on? Just inspections, general repairs and engine changes, or something more specific?

 

Hey Stan! Nice to hear from you. Hou you been doing? I'm working in Maintenance Control overseeing a fleet of old DC-6, DC-9, and MD-80s under our Part 121 certificate. The company is talking about turning their Part 135 fleet over to us as well.

 

I am doing fine thanks. Now fully retired and working harder than ever, but at least it is on my own stuff and not for some uncaring company.

With that new job it sounds like for the most part that you will not be getting your hands dirty.

Those old Douglas products apparently are somewhat overbuilt, so go on for ever. No DC3's?

 

Well, yes. We have 2 that I know of and use them to haul fuel out to some of the remote villages along with a C-47. As far as getting my hands, or any other part of my body dirty, no. This is a desk job making sure maintenance is done on time and correctly. Also providing, tech, parts, and logistics support. At least that is what I will be doing after training. Typical old Alaska company that evolved from dog sleds to airplanes. We do nothing but freight at this time, but there is talk about doing some limited charter passenger runs.

 

Second week on the job is coming to an end. So far, so good. I'm getting paid! Even got to run the show for a day, almost. There are things I don't have access to, so the conference calls are handled by the boss. Communications is a big obstacle in this company, they are not use to it. Maintenance Control often doesn't know if an aircraft is down until after we receive the paperwork even though we are supposed to be the first to know. The reason for that is when the GMM (general maintenance manual) was revised to include maintenance control, they neglected to update other group responsibilities to include us in their processes. So, even though we (MC) have specific responsibilities, no one else knows they are supposed to include us so we can do our job.

 

Got to help a company in Germany troubleshooting their DC-6 yesterday. Kinda fun actually, and a good training exercise for me.

 

Beginning to think this was a bad idea. Internal power struggles and poor management guidance is making this job way harder than it should be. The high turnover rate is a clear indicator. The Director of Maintenance just quit. They won't give our department the tools necessary to do our job per their own policies and procedures. They aren't requiring other department to interface with us per their own policies and procedures. I'm seriously thinking of going back into retirement. But on the other hand, as long as no one holds us responsible for not doing our jobs as assigned and the keep paying me, then why not hang around.