line technician

aircraft maintenance technician

aircraft mechanic

store clerk

utility worker

Airborne Maintenance & Engineering Services

I have seen good camaraderie between coworkers, and a very friendly attitude from everybody from upper management to the leads. Our hangar is clean and organized, and while things happen, safety and proper procedure are both preached, and very well practiced.

Communication between shifts is extremely lacking, and leads are, for the most part, very helpful. The caveat is, however, they're really only helpful as long as it's not inconvenient for them. Questions are sometimes answered in a manner that suggests they're just telling you something to get you to go away, and I have seen the "deer-in-the-headlights" thing more than I care to.

Large, interesting projects, and more complex jobs are saved for the golden boys on first shift, while second shift is given mostly cleaning tasks, and other superficial, less interesting, tasks or simply mindless busywork. Attaching hardware such as bolts, bushings, screws, nuts, etc. tend to disappear without a trace, and without free stock, it can be days before the replacements arrive. This slows things down immensely.

The work is steady, which is good, but the lack of overtime severely limits financial improvement. Tampa and the surrounding area is not a cheap place to live, unless you want to considerably lower your standards, and without the extra boost from the occasional sixth day of work, it can be a struggle to make ends meet.

A typical day at work involved assigning work for up to 16 maintenance technicians and assisting them in troubleshooting, lighting, wiring, anti-skid brakes, hydraulic, propulsion, lavatory, flight control and other malfunctions.  I was in a position to train and ensure fellow employees were properly trained in push-back tug, grove crane, man lift and other equipment.  As a cohesive maintenance team we performed heavy maintenance visits on company owned assets consisting primarily of DC-9 and Boeing 767 Aircraft.  Some tasks performed included: engine run-up and taxi, Required inspection authorization, torquing, removal and replacement of time change components, rigging of flight controls, and performing the associated adjustment/test.  My team members and I were all FAA certified airframe and powerplant mechanics.  
     The hardest part of the job was meeting the ever increasing demand to reduce the down time on the aircraft, even as the aircraft got older and older.
     The most enjoyable part of the job was getting to know a diverse and capable group of professionals, and the lifelong friendships that were formed as we grew our company. 

It’s a great place to learn Boeing and Airbus, but you will be the one teaching yourself - leads do not lead and managers don’t manage. There’s an overall lack of direction and accountability. I’ve seen many potentially fantastic technicians leave because they were set up for failure the second they hit the floor. Maintenance planning is pants on head — a plane is pulled in to the hangar and everyone is thrown on it all at once. It usually ends with damage and management pointing fingers at the easiest target - you the technician. You will be bullied for turning down overtime and having a life outside work. If you are a good worker and make an effort you will be taken advantage of and manipulated until you burn out. The pay does not meet cost of living. Avionics is severely understaffed and as such if you are remotely good at your job your work load will be huge and you will have no support. There is a lack of tooling availability. 

The general atmosphere at KCVG in AMES with the mechanics is usually pretty good, most the mechanics are decent people. Now if you ask any of them if they like working there with the company, im sure most of them will say they hate how things are managed and communication as a whole is trash. There also a couple of people who will throw you under the buss and will try to get you fired; those same mechanics are also protected by the manager, making any of you efforts pointless.

If you plan on working there for experience, great, just keep you head down and start looking for a new job the moment you walk in, FEAM is hiring next door. If you already work there, I wish you luck in you job search.

Also, good luck finding a truck for the day and with were heat actual works.

There are alot of moments that this job will be slow or even dead in terms of work to do as it is a standby job. When work comes in, it usually comes in a spike, you'll get hit with several tasks at once, many of which are time sensitive. The job also requires you to learn a fair bit in a short periodof time, with having to learn three different computer inventory systems, and keep stock of three additional companies stocks on paper. There is at times a complete lack of communication, which often leads to work that needs to be done not being done. Management will be mostly absent, and there qill be times where you will be the only one in the warehouse. There is little in terms of advancement, you get a yearly raise and thats about it. Overall it's a good job if you want a job to get you through college or temporary employment.

There are many nice people in central Ohio. The area is very depressed economically. You can live here inexpensively. 

Working at AMES can provide relatively good experience for a young A&P mechanic just starting out, although It is critical to attach yourself to other employees that display integrity. There are some, but be careful. There are an overwhelming number of first and second year maintenance technicians.

The training program for structures is very good, and managed and taught well. It is certainly a bright spot in the company. 

Overall employees are not treated very well and are not valued very highly. The turnover is extremely high (somewhere north of 30%)
My advice is to go there with an exit plan. AMES is a port in a storm, not necessarily somewhere to make a career.

Working in a MRO Line Terminating station is a very busy day. Every customer is P1 and they want to be told they are. Generally on a given weekend, I supervise a crew of 18 to 20 techs across 4 to 5 different airlines working routine and non-routine to include engine changes, flight control changes, system troubleshooting. The list goes on. I have learned a tremendous difference in what it is like to provide Maintenance support to many airlines versus just supporting the one airline you work for. The hardest part of the job is weather. We have worked in all types of climate from -10 to 105 degrees on the ramp and without a hanger. Most enjoyable part is seeing what was broke, taken apart, unserviceable, come together and just see it fly. Its the best part of the job, seeing it all come together and work.

This company has grown a lot and really isn't that bad to work for.  The town it's located in is affordable and safe which makes it a great place to have a family and raise kids. There are varying shifts to work on, so days, mids and nights are all possibilities. You stay on a fixed shift once you are assigned to one.  The down side is unless you want to move into management, the pay only goes so high and isn't very much. Once good people move into supervisor or management roles, their morale tanks and they are miserable at work.  Also the medical benefits are incredibly expensive and the coverage is skimpy so its not worth it.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Line maintenance technician. Great place to be. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There's no stressful part, only that some technicians who were hired late 2022 that later one of them became a crew chief does seem to have a weird behavior, but I think is something any could handle 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly, but we argued sometimes based on shared work loads  but not so serious 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My experience there was cozy. I got along with every body

Not a perfect place, the work is great as far as doing the job of an aircraft mechanic. You will learn a lot and get a lot of experience really quickly. Program management is lack luster and have no people skills what do ever and they treat you like a body, supervisors are under prepared and burnt out, and some are completely useless. The leads are too few and under paid for the work they do and don't get enough credit as is really their efforts that ensure the aircraft get done. If you focus on the work its a great place to use it as a stepping stone, but not a place you want to make a career sadly. It definitely could be, but it's far from that point currently.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line technician 8 salaries reported	$38.25 per hour
Aircraft maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$29.50 per hour
Aircraft mechanic 3 salaries reported	$36.58 per hour
Store clerk 4 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Utility worker 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour

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