Aviation Workforce Shortage?

Mason said:
Some folks might disagree. Dispatchers, rampers who deice aircraft, ticket agents who check baggage for hazmat and prohibited items and work weight & balance, airline meteorologists, Jet-A fuel specialists, management in many areas, trainers of all types, even the guys who dump the lavs - requires special training and knowledge to prevent the dreaded blue ice.
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Disagreeing is cool, no problem. Just my perspective - pumping gas, taking tickets, setting the lavs to rights, that applies to transportation, like planes, trains, buses, boats, etc., not all that much aviation specific about it. You don't need to know too much about aircraft, or, just know a little narrow slice. Anyone not flying them, crewing them, or maintaining them is more or less generic support.

Might make an argument for dispatching; but if I was a ticket agent or fueling aircraft, or handling bags, that seems at a giod remove from an "aviation" career.
 
mscard88 said:
Dispatchers and fright attendants have certificate's identical to the ones we sky Gods have btw. Don't recall if mechanics do or not.
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I thought us mechanics were the sky gods. :D

Yes, we mechanics get issued the same basic plastic card that us pilots do. Mechanics, pilots, flight engineers, parachute riggers, dispatchers, tower controllers and a few others are all certificated by the FAA and are issued Airman Certificates.

Flight attendants are basically certificated by their employer airline and are then issued a certificate of demonstrated proficiency by the FAA upon the airline's DO notifying the FAA that the FA is qualified. They do not receive an Airman Certificate. Also, if I recall correctly, this FA certificate is only valid at that airline that it was issued for and is not valid for employment elsewhere.
 
You sure? I thought they got the plastic English Proficient blah blah certificate too? I'll ask around.
 
Sundancer said:
Disagreeing is cool, no problem. Just my perspective - pumping gas, taking tickets, setting the lavs to rights, that applies to transportation, like planes, trains, buses, boats, etc., not all that much aviation specific about it. You don't need to know too much about aircraft, or, just know a little narrow slice. Anyone not flying them, crewing them, or maintaining them is more or less generic support.

Might make an argument for dispatching; but if I was a ticket agent or fueling aircraft, or handling bags, that seems at a giod remove from an "aviation" career.
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Long long ago when I threw bags, we needed to know not to walk in front of running high bypass turbine engines, and how to place chocks, open bins, and plug in a pair of David Clarks to talk to the crew. That was about the extent of aviation specific knowledge (unless you count how to operate a belt loader or a cargo container lift) we needed. Generally if you were smart enough not to drive any equipment into an aircraft, you could handle the job. After a while the older crew would show you how to push back a non-heavy a few times and then a heavy later. All you needed to know there was drive smoothly and don't exceed the nose gear max turn angle. On the 727 you also had to learn how to put the steering pin back in by pulling on the cables for the nose wheel hydraulics. Wasn't hard.

Most of the long timer baggage guys and gals only cared that it was an "aviation" job for one reason... They could non-rev cheap to sunnier climes in winter. Most hung out in Florida on their days off, drinking on a beach somewhere. A few would switch over to going to Phoenix for Spring Training if they were baseball fans.

Other than that, it was just another physical labor job. They could (at that time) not be paid better over at the USPS, FedEx, or UPS sorting facilities but those were generally indoors vs the weather on the ramp, so it was a trade off. Pay about the same, different perks.

Nobody cared that it was an "aviation" job beyond cheap tickets on less than full flights. Some that had been there 20+ years didn't even care about that. They'd been everywhere they ever wanted to go.
 
One thing that makes an 'aviation job" different is the possible consequences of screwing up. The folks who packed, shipped, and loaded the O2 cannisters on Valuejet, the folks who didn't properly close the cargo door on the DC-10, and the people who serviced the lav on the AA B-727 that injested blue ice and shed #3 engine over the desert are examples...
 
I forgot. We needed to know to load dead bodies with their heads forward. Most airliners have an ever so slight angle of incidence to the deck floor in cruise that puts the feet "downhill" in that configuration.

If you put the casket in the other way around, apparently all the embalming fluid runs out of all the orifices in the dead body's head, and it's a real mess for the funeral home.

Yes, this was covered in "official" training. No, never saw it done wrong. Don't want to either. Haha.
 
denverpilot said:
I forgot. We needed to know to load dead bodies with their heads forward. Most airliners have an ever so slight angle of incidence to the deck floor in cruise that puts the feet "downhill" in that configuration.

If you put the casket in the other way around, apparently all the embalming fluid runs out of all the orifices in the dead body's head, and it's a real mess for the funeral home.

Yes, this was covered in "official" training. No, never saw it done wrong. Don't want to either. Haha.
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In the USAF, in addition to heads forward, higher ranks were on top, and no males on top of females.

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