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AEI Report to the AMFA National Convention from the Secretary of the Americas
May 09, 2016

May 3, 2016

Officers, Representatives, Delegates, and Colleagues:

AEI, our International Affiliate remains working diligently on many of our common issues. It’s with great pride that I’m able to present this report to the AMFA National Convention.

With the release of the accident investigation report on AirAsia flight 8501, AEI published a press release emphasizing the identified maintenance related concerns. This was globally published in numerous newspapers and even evoked a direct response from the President Director of Indonesia AirAsia. In his response he acknowledged many of the identified issues, but defended Air Asia’s safety culture.

Late last year we created a 26 page E-publication called "Release to Service" covering a wide variety of issues including: Just Culture, Responsibility and Accountability, an AEI Congress Report, and a review of the AMT Competition, to name a few. Many of the articles were written in multiple languages to accommodate our various Affiliates. It can be found on the AEI website, and our spring edition will be out soon.

Our AEI President, Robert Alway recently met with EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky to discuss release to service, standardization, and performance based oversight to name a few. AEI Vice President, Ola Blomqvist was a roundtable speaker at the MRO Middle East Conference in Dubai where he commented on skilled workforce challenges as most of the Licensed Maintenance personnel are Expatriates, and the region is experiencing cultural difficulties in attracting locals to certification programs. Mr. Blomqvist also gave a presentation to EASA’s Safety Standards Consultative Committee (SSCC) in Brussels, Belgium.

Our Icelandic Affiliate is hard at work planning this year’s Annual Congress that will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland tentatively scheduled for October 10-14th.

Our Pakistani Affiliate has been enduring a government privatization effort. They have attempted to be a part of the process, but were shut out. When they protested, they were met with a violent response by their government that resulted in the death of 2 protesters and the injury of numerous others. The Pakistani government has now promised to allow them to be a part of the process, though the situation remains tenuous. AEI stands ready to assist in any way possible.

We continue to work on and track a number of issues, some of which are:

  • The favorable freedom of information Ombudsman’s ruling. The documents ultimately received were outdated and heavily redacted, appeals and discussions are ongoing.
  • Performance based and integrated approach to safety. We’re part of a working group known as an EAB or EASA Advisory Board that are directly working on the regulations.
  • The creation of an Occurrence Reporting APP to go along with the web based reporting system is in work.
  • An Algerian Aircraft Maintenance Union has expressed interest in joining AEI. We are in discussions with them and are hopeful that they will be a part of AEI soon.
  • AEI Promotional Film. After numerous logistical delays we’ve finally produced the promotional film. It can be viewed on the AEI website.

Finally, AEI’s long time Secretary General Mr. Fred Bruggeman has decided to step down after many years of dedicated service. I would like to thank Mr. Bruggeman for his selfless devotion for our class and craft, and express our sincerest gratitude for his work. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with him over the years, and I hope that he will continue to participate on some level in the future. He has certainly set the bar high for the next Secretary General. Our thanks to our current AEI Secretary of Africa-Europe-Middle-East Mr. Ahamed Mohamed who has graciously agreed to fill the position on a temporary basis.

To my fellow AMFA members, we need to look outside of our piece of the world and understand that what happens to our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world will eventually affect us through the continued push of global harmonization. We can learn a lot from AEI and our International Affiliates. Together we will be prepared for changes within our industry and ensure that we continue to raise standards, ensure that safety is our top priority, and prevent corporate and political attempts to marginalize the importance of our jobs for greed and profit.

Fraternally,

Timothy Cullen
Aircraft Engineers International
Secretary Americas


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