Question for Maintenance Shops - why the short hours?

[bluerooster]

I have wondered for years why most light GA - piston oriented - A&P businesses are not "open" for more than 6-8 hours per day / Mon - Friday? With all the work backing up, it seems like they could increase their work flow and their cash flow by adding 8 more hours per week (2 extra hours per day M-F or 8 hours on Saturday) which would create a significant increase in revenue over a year. Working on Saturdays would add approximately 50 extra revenue days per year to a business.

As a business owner myself, I am always looking to maximize cash flow from all of my businesses, and hours of operation is key to that.

Plus, it seems like the mechanics in these shops have very little chance of getting OT, which all of my hourly employees (most of whom are paid more than the average A&P) eagerly want.

Even most auto dealership service centers and many independent auto service centers have extended hours in order to improve customer satisfaction and improve work flow (revenue).

Is there something that I am missing in the GA piston A&P industry that makes it different (at least in the areas that I have lived)? Just curious.

It's a double edged sword. On the one hand you have a ton of work to get done, so you work on Saturday to get it done. Saturday is a nice day and brings out all the weekend warriors. 90% of whom want to ask you about this or that, and they wait untill the most inopportune moment to do so. Then once you get done with that yahoo, another pops up to pump you for more info, or to look at some gizmo that's not behaving as they think it should, ad,infinitum. That's why they aren't open on Saturdays, They can't get anything done on the paying job, for all the yahoos that they won't turn down because they may be a paying job in the future. So, best to not be around to be bothered. As to the 40 hour 5 day work week; you don't know what they do in the between times do you? Most of the A&Ps that I know, and trust, are gone from their base of operation at least 10, sometimes 20 hours a week. Off to some remote airport to get someone back in the air, who's been stranded there due to mechanical circumstances beyond their control. These guys don't care about "time and a half", What they care about is proper maintenance, for a fair price. I know of several shops that work 6 days a week, and the "yahoos" mentioned above won't even think about going there due to exorbitant labor rate, charged as soon as you walk in the door, and open your mouth. So you can troll your "business model" elsewhere.
The business end of being an A&P/IA for the GA bugsmashers is not solely bottom end profit, but also getting the job done. You can't get the job done when you're inundated with owners asking questions and taking your time away from the job on the rack. So rather than be rude and tell them to pound sand, you simply stay closed from Friday to Monday.
Now, with that said, bring your airplane to me for repair. And I'll be glad to work on it for $100/hour, for the first 40 hours,(4 days) then you will be expected to pay $150/hour, until it's done. (2 more 10 hour days over time pay)

 

[Gary Ward]

Dealing with cheap owners is never fun. They simply do not understand why stuff costs what it does and why it needs to be replaced. They're the ones that like the "if it's working, don't fix it" mantra. That's fine in a car that can coast to the side of the highway. It's not so fine in an airplane, and running stuff until it does quit is asking for an early funeral.

Another factor is the small percentage of guys (and gals) that have some hands-on experience in mechanical stuff, and enjoy it. Way too many kids spend way too much time on computers or gaming or Facebooking or whatever; they have no idea and no interest in building or fixing anything. Or flying. Some of them don't even want to own a car and drive. Me and many of my peers were fooling with go-karts or motorbikes or boats or anything else that went fast and made noise. We got a good education just by finding junk and making it work.

That's rare now. This has affected a certain other market: just try finding the stuff you need when building something more complicated than a sundeck, for instance. Radio Shack used to sell all sorts of components 40 and 50 years ago for us guys that built or fixed electronic doodads. Now? Toys and cellphones. It becomes clear that we old guys that can actually build or fix anything are getting scarce. Even homebuilt airplanes are mostly kit affairs. No welding or machining or other such skills required.

So true…
Radio Shack was right across the street from my business for 25 years.
Your lucky if you still have one, ours has been gone for about 10 years now. I miss it.

 

[Magman]

IIRC It is the adults that should be guiding the kids.

Many of the “ Old Guys “ are far from blameless with the “Children

should be seen and not heard attitude”.

It’s not only for the parents and teachers.

Unfortunately the folks dealing with kids today understand the

liability too well.