aircraft mechanic

quality control inspector

buyer

aircraft maintenance technician

products representative

AAR Corp.

I worked on Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar in a Medical Warehouse.  The Supervisor was the most horrible person I'd ever met.  AAR Corp hired me in the job description "Customer Service Supervisor" but I actually heard  the Supervisor tell the subordinates that they better not tell me if they were going to be out on a sick day.  I was also told that although my job title was Supervisor the other Supervisor was actually my Supervisor and that I would be the Floor Manager.  I said OK, I was glad to be clear about my job description because the one that was provided to me by HR was what the other Supervisor did.  The job description as Floor Manager was never provided to me.  

When I was taking company mandated training modules that required a minimum passing score of 80%, the Supervisor insisted that I purposely fail each module.  She said that I only needed to know what she showed me.  When I refused to fail any of the modules the tension between her and I was thick.  She began to complain to the Program Manager about me.  If I so much as left a glass on the kitchen counter she complained about it as if I never cleaned up (yes we had to live together also).  It got to the point that she physically walked in my personal space, chest to chest, and got in my face within an inch, just to intimidate me.  She would yell and use profanity when talking to me. I don't care about people using profanity but if you're speaking to me as my Supervisor, it's nice when professionalism is maintained.  

When I reported it to the Manager and HR, I was told that she's like that with everyone and that it was my word against hers. They also said that since I reported that I was working in a "hostile work environment" and that because I was new and she had been there for years, they decided to end my employment.  As a severance package they continued to pay me for a certain amount of time. The Manager also wrote an outstanding reference letter for me.  It really made me feel good because after reading it, I realized my work ethics and professionalism was noticed by him.  Still it hurt to be relieved from the position because I seems that she (the Supervisor) got what she wanted; me gone.

I'd always heard of companies like this and horrible Supervisors but I never thought it would happen to me.  This experience really makes me appreciate other overseas contracting companies I've worked for.  With those companies I don't know of anyone experiencing a Supervisor insisting that they fail mandated training nor would they have to deal with a Supervisor physically intimidating them.  All the more, HR and Management would at least consider that if an employee decides to report the bad behavior of a Supervisor the report would be taken with the utter most seriousness.  I'd never heard of an employee who reported this type of bad behavior being the one who's relieved.  So I do not recommend working for AAR Corp.

Read and interprets manufacturer and airline maintenance manuals, service bulletins and other specifications documentation to determine feasibility and method of altering, repairing or replacing associated components, and determining the airworthiness of the aircraft and its associated components and replacement for malfunctioning or damaged components. Inspect completed work to certify that maintenance meets standards and that aircraft are ready for operation. Inspected Engines (CJR200 Engine-GE CF34-3B1, CRJ700 Engine-GE CF34-8C1, CRJ900 Engine-GE CF34-8C5) and their associated components for airworthiness; repairs or replaces defective engine parts and associated components; removes and installs engines onto the aircraft. Maintain repair logs, documenting all preventive and corrective aircraft maintenance. Conduct routine and special inspections as required by regulations. Examine, inspect and troubleshoot aircraft components, including landing gear, hydraulic systems , and deicers to locate cracks, breaks, leaks and  repair and replace electrical wiring and its associated components. Inspect airframes for wear or other defects. Maintain, repair and rebuild aircraft structures, functional components, and parts such as wings and fuselage, rigging, hydraulic units, oxygen systems, electrical systems, gaskets, and seals. Also perform miscellaneous duties to service aircrafts, including hydraulic system servicing, engine oil replenishment, aircraft systems lubrication, and aircraft defueling. Replace or repair worn, defective, or damaged components, using hand tools, gauges, and testing equipment. Measure the tension of control cables and wear, using precision instruments. And interact with company maintenance control and customers in matters that concern the airworthiness of the aircraft, operational readiness of the aircraft and issues related to the troubleshooting of the aircraft’s systems.

This company has had one of the highest turnover rates I have seen in a long time. Some of its best and brightest employees have quickly departed for greener and friendlier pastures.  At least two dozen or more employees across multiple departments have left within the past year.

Persistent problems exist like lack of training. Hiring people due to nepotism and not because they may be the best person for a job. Then when their inexperience shines through people have to make way to train them across the departments they affect so everyone's jobs will not be adversely affected. You are expected to train people outside your department and do it with a smile or else you'll end up with a bad yearly review.

When people quit, they are again replaced with hopeful determined new hires. Then these people yet again have to be trained and again ineffectively by their superiors. 

Meanwhile senior management tries to improve efficiency by trying change processes instead of focusing on training people. They fix the walls with new paint, get new furniture and landscaping while some employees are still trying to learn how to look up information on the computer.

The new office layout is ripe with distractions because everything is within eyesight and people easily overhear people's conversations or people who simply walk by. They got rid of cubicle walls so as you try to concentrate more on your tasks at hand (or if you are not training another new hire) you can become uncomfortable.

Just because you put a pretty bow and lipstick on a pig does not mean you'd still want to kiss it.  After 10 years of service here you get four weeks of vacation. Sounds good?  Then pucker up.

This has to be one of the worst companies I ever worked for. 

This plant is on their last leg.

The management actually insults the people on the floor, and talks about how they use to do drugs on the job.

The management has no real hopes that this company will be around in the area in 6 months to a year. (They lost ONE contract, and went from 750+ people to 36 a few months ago.)

The company virtually has no systems in place to actually move forward with their current project, other than try and see what happens. 

The company uses a remote connection for all their systems. This means you get log out of their systems all the time, the info is only goes down a line, there is a lot of lag, and it takes 4 hours (not joking) to do a 20 minute job.

The company has a horrible problem with just leaving things out, and having metal shavings all over the place on FOD free zones.

You only get a 15 min break

You will be counted late if you are 4 min late, and you will get a point against you if you come in 10 min before your shift.
(You can get 1 point per hour, and you will lose your job after 25 points)
The worst part about this is the clock in/out things don't work half the time.

The pay vs work is not there (so you may not be able to afford the benefits)

Both the people on the floor and the management will lie to your face. Even more so when there is no way to fact check what they are talking about.

You will get be punish for using your vacation days.

There is a complete segregation between the blue-collar and white-collar workers. To the point where many of these rules ONLY apply to the blue-collar workers.
White-collar workers can leave the building when they eat, come and go, keep their mobile devices with them, and dress however they want.

I agree with many other guys that have left their comments here that AAR is a great place to start your career in aviation, to learn, but a very bad place for growing professionaly. This company (AAR Aircraft Services Miami specifically) is managed like a private latin-american (more specifically cuban) farm. If you dont have anybody from your family in the upper management forget it, the opportunities to grow are close to zero. It does not matter whether you are a knowlegeable technician, or harworking, if your manager dont like you because you dont do exactly what he wants, if you dont sign jobs does not matter if they are not done correctly or not done at all, they will put you in a black list. They call it being part of the team. Sometimes I feel afraid of flying again when I see the way they work there. I understand it is a business but the lives of people are at stake. There are no corporative rules, no respect for your knowledge, hardwork, seniority... They say you are not there to think but to do what they tell you to do. I used to love working there because I love aviation. It is my passion. But at AAR Miami they are PMK (professional motivation killers). On top of that salaries are not bad but compared to many other companies around it is not the best. That is why the best mechanics migrate all the time. To be fare, the good part is that work there is pretty stable at least for direct employees and benefits are not bad. But if you want to grow professionally believe me, this, unfortunately is not the place, unless as I said you have somebody from your family in the upper management or you end up signing a lot of job cards so the airplanes can leave on time. It is really a shame. Again. I really loved working at AAR but due to all these things that I have seen for so many years I am so unmotivated.

I'd like to start by saying that AAR is a great place to start in this industry. The work environment is for the most part friendly, and coworkers are the best part of the day for me personally, but after being here for a few years, things are starting to feel repetitive, I feel unappreciated for the work I do, and most of all underpaid for what I do. I've been working in the commercial warehouse now for several years and in that time I've seen this place boon in the volume of parts coming in and out the door. The sad thing is that almost all of this work falls on a few people's shoulders and to make it worse you're asked to put up with it day in, and day out.  Not to mention that if you show that you are even the least bit competent and capable of working, you'll be thrown into additional courses and classes to get you certified in Forklift operating, HazMat shipping, AES filing etc. but you'll NEVER see a pay increase for it. Pretty much you get to do more work and not get paid for it. Almost all the emphasis is put on the sales team and their numbers, even if it's at the cost of every other department here. This warehouse is packed wall to wall with inventory that can't be properly stored and all people seem to cafe about is getting more parts in this building. The work culture has been very slowly changing for the better, but sadly I don't see myself working here long enough to get to the point where I feel adequately compensated or appreciated.

I spent many years at AAR only to be let go due to Covid-19. I do completely understand the company's reasoning behind that even though I don't agree with the way it was handled. I have since found other employment. Before the covid pandemic, there was a great deal of work, requiring a lot of energy and stamina to get you through. There were many times I believed that management was slow to react to increasing workloads, placing even more burden on the employees already there. Saw some young inexperienced people placed into leadership rolls, for reasoning I don't understand. There was a lot of stress with the workload and hours required to complete it. At times, shoddy work was pushed in the name of delivering on time and it seemed as though "card count" was more important than quality work. Doing the job right the first time was not the mind set of many of the leads and many times resulted in work being redone more than once. "Doing it Right" really needs to be stressed instead of "card count". I don't have any regrets working at AAR and as with other companies, they have their issues. If you are a new mechanic looking to get a start, have a lot of stamina, desire and energy, AAR is the place to get your experience. I truly hope AAR can work out their issues and change their mindset. It would make for a more positive work environment and a great place to work.

As a Program Coordinator, my responsibilites were to maintain and order new passports, CAT cards for employees to have access on base for eating,etc in Afghanistan. There were fixed wing as well as rotor wing pilots, logistics clerks, flight ops and mechanics who required the proper paperwork for deployment, as well as purchasing the international tickets along with charter flights after arriving in Dubai for their rotation. I also was responsible for purchasing all tacticle clothing as well as ensuring the clothing had proper logo's to seperate AAR from other contractors working in Afghan. My co-workers were easy to work with as the job requirements were stressful at times. We worked as a team to assist each other during times when airline tickets needed to be changed. This was frequent.The hardest part of my job was attempting to maintain the work that was necessary to deploy our employees, as well as order and maintain all tactical gear for over 500 employees. I loved the challenge. It was a great job.  I left the company in Nov of 2012 to be a full time care giver for my Mother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or I would have remained with AAR.

AAR really declined and stopped adhering to their mission & vision when new management came in - both locally and at the corporate level. The local sales manager fired all of the regional sales reps one by one to bring in his own personal friends. Vulgar language and sexist remarks were an every day feature and there was no support from HR or the GM in this regard as bringing in money was more important. The new CEO at corporate has the same arrogant attitude that is money driven only so there was no support there, either. Employee morale was always low and gossip high. If they were smart and really paid attention to where they were losing money, they might be able to stop giving broken promises over and over to customers, build quality product, and deliver on time instead of scrambling to get a job done just to "get the money in the quarter". They used to be a company to be proud of, but those days have long passed - all because they put one man on a pedestal as he pulled the wool over their eyes. Typical salesman who can BS his way in to anything he wants as the hourly workers dig him out of the hole he continually would dig.

Please understand, there are good people at this location, but the atmosphere is way to relaxed. The first red flag I got was when HR told me that the policies in the handbook are not followed (dress code, phones on production floor, hourly employees leaving the plant and returning) just to name a few. Not orgainized! Did not have parts needed for weeks! Was told that I was being released due to performance, but I had a severe shortage of employees needed to do my job everyday! (Hence title of this review). Impossible to build without people to build with! Nothing ever shipped on time to customers, I was routinely asked to do things outside of my build instructions, and then asked why I did it that way! Plant short employees (30+), but keep rehiring people that are terminated and the same issues keep returning, wonder why! You just can't talk to people so disrespectfully, and expect great work. I should have listened to HR when I got hired about things that go on at AAR. I guess I will have to go be great somewhere else. If anyone can get parts needed at this location, please help!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Aircraft mechanic 3 salaries reported	$37.23 per hour
Quality control inspector 12 salaries reported	$31.11 per hour
Buyer 4 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Aircraft maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$33.00 per hour
Products representative 5 salaries reported	$61,100 per year

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