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From: Mike Sellers [Univair]
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:06 PM
To: e...@. . .
Subject:
Ed it is easier for me to respond this way since I don't know my way around
this forum site that well. Feel free to post my response.
As I noted in my posting, I have been with Univair for 31 years and Sales
Manager for 24. I think I have a lock on the record for that job. The
average length of employment for our current workforce is about 15 years.
One of the reasons I do the job I do, and I think can speak for several of
us, is we too are "airplane people." I would rather do this than sell vacuum
cleaners door to door. Our customers cover the spectrum in their respective
vocations. Some of them might even sell vacuum cleaners door to door. They
work hard at their jobs. They maybe don't love their job, but it pays the
bills. Now their airplane - that is a different deal. A lot of folks do
their jobs to allow them their time with their planes. They love them and
they are always eager to share that enthusiasm with others. Sure, some days
my job is a pain in the ass, but most days I get to do business with people
who can take a break from their "real" word and move into their aviation
world. It is a lot more fun to work when the you are not trying to sell
somebody things like door knobs. The interest and enthusiasm in your
airplanes is part of what keeps a lot of people around our place. When I
hire a salesman there are a lot of things I really don't care about. One
thing that I do is - are they "airplane people?"
Of all the airplanes we support, all of the owners love their birds and
think that have the best make. However, on balance I think Coupe guys might
actually be the most passionate about their birds. You guys have not only an
emotional investment but often a significant financial investment in your
machines. We get that. We also know a grounded fleet doesn't generate a lot
of revenue. We have fewer new pilots in this generation than previous ones.
We have an aging fleet of aircraft. Higher operating costs. Mode C, landing
fees, evening curfews, NIMBYs, Feds, liability and acts of God that work
against this industry. A lot of my time at work in recent months is writing
letters to Members of Congress in protecting our right to enjoy our birds,
but increasingly more time is being spent in protecting the interests of
small business.
Steve and Jim Dyer might be financially ahead to sell off the assets of the
company and move to Barbados. They surly would have less to fight and worry
about. Unfortunately they suffer from the same affliction the rest of us
have. They love the business.
We can't always show our cards. We shouldn't have to show our cards. We have
enough forces arrayed against us we need to look out after our interests
more vigilantly. Are we going to be the cheapest source around? Probably
not, but we will stand behind that product and we do lots of things that
allow us to do so. We also plan on being around a few more years. During my
time, I have seen lots of outfits come and go.
A lot of us pilots have a morbid but understandable interest in things like
this Sebring accident given the catastrophic nature of it. We want to know
what happened so that we learn from others and file that information away.
We at Univair had a fairly clear idea of what we think happened shortly
after some of the basic facts were known. However, until the NTSB says -
this is what happened - our opinions need to remain our own. I understand it
is frustrating when you see a behavior and attribute to a certain
motivation. It has been frustrating to have to sit on the cat bird seat and
take it. Some forum members have tried to point out that we all need to sit
back and let the process work its way through. Others have questioned our
motivation and what is our end game. It damn sure isn't getting pilloried
over an expensive and ponderous service bulletin and or AD. So let's remove
any question of where our heads are at. In all likelihood an AD is probably
forthcoming. I personally feel it is probably warranted, but we want to
target it in the right area. Our input will be to accomplish the job. Do it
properly. Minimize expense, inconvenience and down time. This makes our day
much more pleasant. You guys will probably still have some gripes, but at
least you will be around to gripe.
