July-August 2022 - 16

Veronica Leacock-Borchardt
Assistant Manager for Aircraft Inspection Outside Vendors, United Airlines
Age: 33
Hometown: Panama City,
Panama
Alma mater: Instituto
Superior de Formación
Profesional Aeronáutica and
Autoridad de Aeronautica
Civil in Panama. In progress:
a Bachelor's Degree from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University.
Someone you look up to:
Indra Nooyi
Favorite thing about
aviation: When you work
in aviation, you are part
of a story. Because of us,
someone went to a wedding,
a father or mother reunited
with their kids, and a couple
had their dream vacation.
At age 20, Veronica Leacock-Borchardt earned her
Associate in Aircraft Maintenance from the Instituto
Superior de Formación Profesional Aeronáutica in
Panama. She also earned her A&P and FCC radio
license from the Autoridad Aeronautica Civil. That
same year she and her 2-year-old daughter moved
to the United States. Leacock-Borchardt learned
English quickly, studied independently, got her FAA
A&P license, and began her career at Horizon Air
in Portland, Oregon.
Later, working for Virgin America and Delta Air
Lines, she gained experience in line maintenance.
She continued working for Delta and in maintenance
as a tower coordinator at Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport. To improve her ability to communicate
with pilots and maintenance technicians
over the radio, she took accent reduction classes.
As the brand ambassador for technical operations,
Leacock-Borchardt was invited to meet with U.S.
senators and advocate for the enforcement of the
Open Skies agreement.
After transferring to Delta's intermediate maintenance
department in Atlanta, she was approached
by Alaska Airlines to supervise line maintenance
in Seattle. She accepted the job and stayed with
Alaska Airlines, later moving to San Antonio, Texas,
to help Alaska Airlines set up operations with their
contracted MRO. That experience led her to United
Miguel Cruz
Project Manager, AAR
Miguel Cruz has been at AAR since 2014. He started
as a support technician with little experience,
Age: 27
Hometown: Hialeah, Florida
Favorite hobby: Plane
spotting
My favorite thing about
aviation: The joy of seeing
your work take off.
but quickly rose through the ranks.
" I worked my way up from support tech, utility,
somebody that doesn't know the front of the airplane
and all the way to running a line with 50 to
80-plus people, several airplanes and types, " he
said. " As far as heavy maintenance, done everything
from small, to taking a whole vertical off an
airplane or modifying an entire pylon and been
very exposed to heavy, heavy, heavy maintenance
on any type - 737, 747, 733, 757, 767, even had
the chance to recently work with Maxs, " he said.
Cruz was introduced to AAR by way of his involvement
with Civil Air Patrol as a cadet. He visited
the site for an event recruiting for Civil Air Patrol.
Getting to see up close the type and amount of
work being performed intrigued Cruz. He called
a few weeks later to inquire about a job as he was
finishing up an internship with American Airlines.
Airlines, where she is now assistant manager of
quality control for outside vendor reps.
In her current role, Leacock-Borchardt said
she enjoys meeting the technicians working on
United's airplanes and hearing their stories.
Leacock-Borchardt is a public speaker, advocating
for the aviation maintenance industry and for
women.
" Aircraft maintenance is a gratifying field, but it can
also be brutal for women, " she said. " You are constantly
reminded that you are not good enough.
It takes a lot of perseverance and belief in your
skills to overcome self-doubt.
" We must equip the new generations of technicians
with the skills that allow them to fail without
quitting. They need to know that it takes patience,
practice and consistency to become a sound
technician regardless of their gender. "
Leacock-Borchardt especially enjoys speaking at
schools and helping children in orphanages. " It
keeps me grounded and grateful every day, and
most importantly, it allows me to see the kids'
smiles, " she said.
A U.S. citizen since 2017, she brought her two
brothers and dad to the U.S. in 2019. Her dad now
works in aircraft maintenance for Delta Air Lines.
www.AviationPros.com/21274027
" I spent almost a month working heavy maintenance
with them and then line maintenance too.
So that got me interested more and more and
more, and that's how I ended up doing what I'm
doing, " he said.
One of the aspects Cruz says he enjoys about
being part of the industry is how, as he sees it,
it is only poised to grow and become more and
more important to people.
" I think it's one of those things that is a fast growing
thing, and it has evolved so much since the
beginning. It's something that I think has a future
that is never going to stop. It is not just going to
stay there. It's going to evolve more and more and
more and more, and it's going to get to the point
that we are going to depend more on it than cars or
anything else. It's going to control the next generation
for the next a hundred years. It's unbelievable
that you are part of something like that, " he said.
www.AviationPros.com/21274355
16 JULY/AUGUST 2022
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.AviationPros.com/21274027 http://www.AviationPros.com/21274355
July-August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July-August 2022
