Currently, one in five planes operated by U.S. airlines are serviced at facilities from Central America to Asia, according to one NPR report. On average, industry analysts conclude that airlines spend half as much to repair planes overseas. The result is a dramatic increase in the last decades of the overseas outsourcing of airline mechanic jobs.
Last month, American Airlines announced that it will lay off 42 percent of its U.S. aircraft mechanics. This means that the remaining work would either have to be done more quickly by the remaining U.S.-based mechanics or outsourced to mechanic facilities within the United States or overseas.
“[President and CEO of American Airlines] Tom Horton has talked about taking more advantage of outsourcing overseas,” say TWU President Jim Little. “If they outsource in the U.S., we can manage to compete with them, but in the case of foreign carriers, they have too much of an advantage. They are not under the same scrutiny and they don’t have qualified mechanics with the same level of oversight as here in the United States.”
