march2023 - 15

cross many industries, including
aviation, the active workforce and
incoming labor pool were drastically
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, businesses around the globe
are still working to recruit people
to fill job vacancies.
Within the aviation industry, ground
support-focused companies are working
through personnel challenges on a
daily basis.
In the Ground Support Worldwide
2023 State of the Industry survey,
readers identified finding and retaining
staff as the greatest challenge to
their businesses.
The next greatest challenge highlighted
by businesses was acquiring and
maintaining equipment.
These two trending issues paint a
unique picture of the challenges being
faced by ground support equipment
(GSE) maintenance providers.
Personnel Challenges
The number of mechanics in the labor
pool have decreased, according to
Chris Schaeffer, vice president of GSE
at GAT Airline Ground Support. What's
more, he notes the experience of those
GSE technicians in the labor pool
varies greatly.
" They are either high quality or very
new to the trade, " Schaeffer says. " The
high-quality mechanics are looking for
higher pay and getting it as is the rule of
supply and demand. "
The reduced number of veteran GSE
mechanics and technicians can be
attributed in part to the pandemic's
impact on experienced personnel.
" I found mechanics who had years
of experience planning to retire in a
few years bumped up that timetable
post-pandemic, " says Schaeffer. " That
took away those years of helping mentor
less-experienced techs. "
Finding and retaining maintenance
personnel for the GSE space requires
meeting specific criteria both of job
seekers and GSE maintenance providers.
" Mechanics with an industrial background
understand urgency, can follow
a repair manual and are usually good at
documenting, " Schaeffer notes. " Many
of my applicants are heavy duty truck
mechanics that want to change into
something where they are more appreciated
with regular and steady hours for
a work-life balance. "
Finding a solution to personnel shortages
requires a case-by-case approach.
According to Schaeffer, finding talented
candidates to fill vacant roles is critical.
But perhaps more importantly,
finding employees who want to learn
and grow within the industry can pay
huge dividends.
New-hires who wish to learn a skill
can start with smaller tasks and then
build their knowledge of the industry.
While newcomers are assigned less
skilled tasks, veteran technicians can
be freed up to do repairs that require
more experience and training and offer
mentorship to team members.
Working as a team, with leaders who
value their fellow colleagues, is crucial
to keeping mechanics engaged in the
GSE industry.
" People can be anywhere to earn a
living, but they choose to be here, with
you. I make a genuine effort to create
an environment of appreciation and
respect, " Schaeffer says. " Appreciation
is in the form of pay, but also seeing
mechanics not as a commodity but as
tradesmen with years of practice on
their craft. "
March 2023 || AviationPros.com || 15
http://www.AviationPros.com
march2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of march2023
