FAA says Thai aviation industry lacks sufficient qualified personnel

[jaywalker]

I read it twice. It's all talk and no plan. How many Western guys would like to be stationed in Thailand for any of those jobs. Do the jobs and train Thais at the same time.

Thainess. Face. Procrastination. Excuses.

I did that working for Motorola in the 1990s. We trained the AIS and DTAC guys well enough in 5 years that we trained ourselves out of a job. I came back a couple of times since but on short term priority jobs as a contractor.

Most of the Thai techies I worked with were smart guys, learned very quickly and quite a few went on to become offshore contractors themselves and did a good job there too.

If Thailand bites the bullet and contracts out the job and specifies training too within one or two years they will have a good workforce.

One of the things I found in Thailand was that the upper management never appreciated the workforce as they should have done.

Try and teach them how to organize a couple-three 500 piece toolboxes though, replete with roller ball bearing drawers.

Top of the line Craftsman tools fresh off the plane from Sears & Roebuck.

Within 4 days they were working out of a 5 gallon bucket, or might as well have been.

I recall rebuilding a 6.2 liter diesel engine. I did 24 of them for the RTAF.

Need a 6 inch, 3/8th's drive extension??? They'd be digging for 20 minutes & come back with a 3 inch 1/4 inch drive extension.

I'd look at him in disgust, step over to MY toolbox, yank open a drawer & be back at it in 30 seconds.

I insisted that they get air ratchets & impact guns.

These wonderful tools would be laying on the floor, next to their feet, as they did everything manually.

They replaced an engine head and did not follow the torque sequence, which resulted in a rod going through the oil pan.

They'd remove an 8 lug wheel with a lug wrench, with the 1/2 inch impact gun sitting not 2 feet away.

Edited July 19, 2015 by jaywalker

[rametindallas]

But THAI authorities say that this problem could be resolved.

Notice they didn't say the problem WILL be resolved.

I'm hoping that's a translation error but I won't get my hopes up.

.

[ExPratt]

"But THAI authorities say that this problem could be resolved."

Could be ?

The problem is you didn't know you had a problem. Endless encounters with jumped up lazy, ill informed , uncaring local officials springs to mind

[Echo Tango]

In my opinion all this is so typical of the holier than thou farang mentality.

If the standards were so low, in comparable terms to other aviation sectors, they would be banned now.

Simple as that.

I think most posters are from the era where you had to check the oil and brake fluid on the "motor" weekly before risking taking the family for a drive into the country for the day.

Things have changed and changed dramatically. The modern turbojet and airframe is something completely different to what your conceptions may have been. They simply do not need the maintenance regime that was demanded in the past.

Granted they still need the ego massage of the pilots but that will change as the paying public wakes up to the fact that a computer can do a better, safer, more predictable job than a human can.

Howls of derision no doubt will be forthcoming.

Why does the pilot actually have to be in the aircraft? It's only a flying computer. Something goes wrong....control it from a position of safety.

Are you crazy? There will always be a human in the cockpit of any commercial operation! Maintenance intervals are still the same as they were 30 to 40 years ago! Nothing has changed even though airplanes have become more advanced.

[natway09]

This is an industry where Thailand has been very stubborn & stupid.

The ban for example on expat pilots many years ago is an example of this.

Exactly the same for maintenance crews where it is suspected that unqualified supervsors are signing off

Maybe the Big Boss will now give qualified farang engineers the opportunity to come back & teach & train

in both mechanics, electronics & quantitive systems documentation

[selftaopath]

This is an industry where Thailand has been very stubborn & stupid.

The ban for example on expat pilots many years ago is an example of this.

Exactly the same for maintenance crews where it is suspected that unqualified supervsors are signing off

Maybe the Big Boss will now give qualified farang engineers the opportunity to come back & teach & train

in both mechanics, electronics & quantitive systems documentation

DOUBT IT.

[harada]

I don't think that the latest fiasco at Don Mueang will earn them any points.

[FarangKyAy]

I have a friend who works as aircraf engineer, he has already worked overseas to take in charge aircraft maintenance ... theses contracts are generally well paid.

He did apply for a job position in Thailand (as he knows the country, speaks some thai language), The salary was quite low compared to his previous overseas experiences, that he just declined to pursue the process (He likes Thailand but not to the point to work for half (or less) the salary he could earn in other countries).

The agency just said that many people want to work in Thailand, so they don't need to offer the same financial conditions as in other countries ...

Edited July 22, 2015 by FarangKyAy

[Taffyfromflint]

You know what confucious said? "you get what you pay for" It's the same in my proffesion, I travelled overseas every month on contract as the rates here were less than one fiifth of the minimum rate sometimes lower.

[elgordo38]

Thai officials have acknowledged weakness in the airlines system. You just got to love their reasoning "industry growth has outpaced regulators ability to keep up with standards." WOW what an answer. Tourism at any cost even at the possibility of some of them dying. You got to spend money to make money simple. Maintenance a must.