We Lost 3 Republic Lines This Week

[john_pifer]

Rumor has it that some, or all, of us will soon be on paid leave for a while.

It's already happened at other places; Embraer manufacturing facility workers are on 2-week paid leave. Same with Boeing in Seattle. Not sure about their factory in South Carolina.

 

[john_pifer]

Well, it's happened.

My manager sent out a group text today.

Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Nashville, will close Tuesday, for a minimum of 2 weeks. The reason is, a lack of work, due to the massive plunge in demand for air travel.

I later had a private conversation on the phone with my manager. He said to expect us to be closed for longer than 2 weeks.

We'll be paid for the rest of our pay period, which runs through April 5. After that, it depends on what Embraer is able to secure from the Feds with the stimulus.

Also talked to a friend of mine who is an aircraft mechanic at the Memphis FedEx hub, in the line maintenance department. He said several pilots are down with it, and all hub workers have their temperatures scanned before being allowed in.

 

[53' Stude]

Originally Posted by john_pifer
Well, it's happened.

My manager sent out a group text today.

Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Nashville, will close Tuesday, for a minimum of 2 weeks. The reason is, a lack of work, due to the massive plunge in demand for air travel.

I later had a private conversation on the phone with my manager. He said to expect us to be closed for longer than 2 weeks.

We'll be paid for the rest of our pay period, which runs through April 5. After that, it depends on what Embraer is able to secure from the Feds with the stimulus.

Also talked to a friend of mine who is an aircraft mechanic at the Memphis FedEx hub, in the line maintenance department. He said several pilots are down with it, and all hub workers have their temperatures scanned before being allowed in.




Very to sorry to hear sir

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by john_pifer
Well, it's happened.

My manager sent out a group text today.

Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Nashville, will close Tuesday, for a minimum of 2 weeks. The reason is, a lack of work, due to the massive plunge in demand for air travel.

I later had a private conversation on the phone with my manager. He said to expect us to be closed for longer than 2 weeks.

We'll be paid for the rest of our pay period, which runs through April 5. After that, it depends on what Embraer is able to secure from the Feds with the stimulus.

Also talked to a friend of mine who is an aircraft mechanic at the Memphis FedEx hub, in the line maintenance department. He said several pilots are down with it, and all hub workers have their temperatures scanned before being allowed in.


I am planning this to go until July before anything starts to change. Then expect very slow change, so probably not much work.
If things go back to normal in August, 3-5 years for economy to rebound.

 

[Mr Nice]

edyvw,

Which airline do you fly for ?
I agree it will take a while to recover.

Luckily there will be BIG $$$ help for the aviation industry here in the USA.

 

[fdcg27]

Freight demand is booming with the virtual end of pax flying and the belly freight capacity that brought with it.
FedEx may well be hiring techs in your area.
Worth a call.

 

[john_pifer]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
Freight demand is booming with the virtual end of pax flying and the belly freight capacity that brought with it.
FedEx may well be hiring techs in your area.
Worth a call.


I'd love nothing better. But FedEx slots are hard to come by. Especially in Memphis and Nashville - 2 of the most desirable areas.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
edyvw,

Which airline do you fly for ?
I agree it will take a while to recover.

Luckily there will be BIG $$$ help for the aviation industry here in the USA.

I am not flying for any airline. I am saying generally. In my line of work we started to prepare for this in January, and it was not as bad shift to home, except having kids at home while working is no fun. But, not big deal.
I had some UN work and suppose to fly with Lufthansa in May. However, I moved that to October. That is our safest bet now.
On other hand I was reading yesterday that AA is still planing seasonal operations from PHL to Dubrovnik, except day moved it to mid July instated of beginning, and ending in October instead of end of October.
However, I am personally doubtful looking at things here and how some states are approaching this issue.

 

[Astro14]

John - sorry to hear of the shutdown and potential furlough.

Keep us posted on how you're doing. The drop in air travel is the worst in history. Far worse than 9-11.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted by john_pifer
Originally Posted by fdcg27
Freight demand is booming with the virtual end of pax flying and the belly freight capacity that brought with it.
FedEx may well be hiring techs in your area.
Worth a call.


I'd love nothing better. But FedEx slots are hard to come by. Especially in Memphis and Nashville - 2 of the most desirable areas.


Sorry, I guess I should have figured out based upon your location that you'd have already thought of FedEx.
I hope this works out okay for you.
Losing your job is never good especially when your whole industry is in steep decline.
We can only hope that we see a sharply V shaped recovery.

 

[john_pifer]

Thanks guys.

I should clarify that I haven't lost my job. We've been led to believe that the facility will open back up when there's work, and I have no reason to disbelieve what our leadership is saying. But, at the same time, it's not up to them. It's going to depend on there being airlines willing to bring airliners in for heavy check. I know SkyWest has airplanes ready to bring in, as does Republic. We've just been told that there is not ENOUGH work to sustain us. So, I'm sure the managers, and whoever else is responsible for communicating with potential customers, will be in communication with airline reps, and trying their best to get us work.

We've been told that this will likely last, at least, for the month of April.

In the mean time, I've been hired as a driver for a contractor that delivers for Amazon. You know those blue cargo vans that say "Prime" on the side? Yeah, I'll be driving one of those around! And when Embraer starts back up, if there's no OT available, I can keep delivering for Amazon, part time, on my days off (we work 4 x 10-hr shifts per week at Embraer, so, I'm off 3 days a week if there's no OT available). So, it sucks that Embraer is down for a while, but I'm very thankful that I've been hired on at Amazon. And I certainly have plenty to do around the apartment, as the fiancee and I are getting married on 4/18, so, I have a lot to do to get my apartment ready for her to move in after we get married.

Weird times!

 

[ragtoplvr]

That would make a nice racetrack.

Rod

 

[Snagglefoot]

It’s really a shame when things were so close to turning around. Jet fuel consumption is climbing.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

It’s really a shame when things were so close to turning around. Jet fuel consumption is climbing.

Plus Nav Canada increased its service charges ( ATC etc ) to the already struggling airlines by 30% ( thirty ) because they are losing money. That will hurt foreign airlines who travel through Canadian airspace that do not even land.

Carbon tax ( Canada ) on fuel will even make jet fuel more expensive.

There is a reason why those low cost u.s carriers ( SWA. Allegiant ) do not fly into Canada.

 

[Jetronic]

Here in Brussels they are starting to get the grounded planes ready to fly again, they all need 200-400 man hours of work, pilots are getting weeks of training, including simulators and observed flights aswell.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Aren't there a lot of civilian aircraft mechanics working for the airforce and other such agency's? I'd think that would be job security.

 

[Dave Hess]

Some of the most skilled mechanics I ever knew were in the service, then moved on to the private industry. I was an a/c mechanic in the USCG in the late 70s, early 80s and it was a difficult job to learn. I hope you get back to work soon.

Probably the most well rounded mechanics I’ve met in a non aviation setting.

Hopefully air travel picks up in the near future with summer flights.