Have you ever noticed that in some firms the sales person with the biggest numbers is also the biggest violator of processes, procedures, and attention to detail? It seems this gets winked-at or conveniently overlooked since, after all, they are making the firm the most money. Typically, QA people are seen to roll their eyes at the mention of their names. On the other hand I have seen many firms where the biggest sales person follows procedures and details just like everyone else – the differenc...

I learned a new word recently: Whinge. It’s an old English word meaning to moan, or to complain fretfully; to whine. When it comes to certain shelf life issues, I feel an unexplainable urge to engage in whinging. Shelf life control should be an easy program to manage, right? Not always. The easy part is when the packaging on a part has a stated expiration date; these are most easily identified and placed on your shelf life control program. Most difficulties however, arise from the following: ...

OEM ANTI-COMPETITIVE, MONOPOLISTIC  PRACTICES IN THE AFTERMARKET? By Roy Resto   What’s going on in the aftermarket? I read an article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Promised Monopoly Crackdown Fizzles.”1 The article highlighted the US Government’s acknowledgement that there needs to be more enforcement of laws against monopolistic practices. The aviation industry was not mentioned in the article, yet it triggered some thoughts: are there any such practices in the aviation industry? To the p...

What potentially, do all of the following have in common, which may occur in flight or while taxiing? A Pax dies of natural causes, lightning strikes, hale damage, bird strikes, FOD damage, hard landings, tail strikes, or bent metal caused by impacts with ground equipment or other aircraft. Answer: Depending on varying broad definitions, these, and many other scenarios all have the potential to be categorized as accidents or incidents. In fact it has been my experience that given a mature aircra...

You bump into a friend you have not spoken with in a while. The friend asks “so…are you still with Jane?” What should be a simple yes or no answer turns into a slightly awkward and delayed answer from you; “it’s complicated”. Use of the “it’s complicated” strategy  means that in order to be truthful with your friend, a quick answer will not do, and that the choice to give any additional details is optional (due to time limits or level of trust), and further, that if you don’t give any additional...