The Boeing Company with Airplane In Front

Everyone has known BOEING for generations now. We do know that they manufacture airplanes and a lot of other governmental equipment. But, how do they actually do it? In this article, we are going to tackle how BOEING goes around, through an Aircraft mechanic named AJ Franklin. He has been working for this company, located at Renton, for 15 YEARS. This interview would help us get a better understanding of how an employee in this company truly feels, authentically, based on their experience.

What do you do in your job?
I am an aircraft mechanic for Boeing. I have been a mechanic at Boeing for 15 years now and counting.

How did you get there? The process.
I worked real hard for it. I finished my studies. I showed up for interviews and job shows. It was fun but really hard. It was worth it though. The process is different for every person. But in all processes, whoever you are, you would need motivation and passion for it. This has been a very long journey for me.

When did you start and how long are you in the company now?
I started working for Boeing in 2007. I have been in it for 15 years now! It has been that long now.

How is your work environment?
It’s a bit dirty, considering you also do maintenance on the planes. But, overall, I’d say it’s fun when you have great co-workers. It really depends on the people.

What are your work hours?

I work 8hr-10hrs a day. About 40 hours a week.

What are the pros of this job?
The job can be hard, but once you get to know your job it becomes easy, you have a lot of opportunities to advance to different work areas. It never becomes boring. It requires a lot of thinking process when you are doing this job. You need to be able to do thinking while working with your hands. Coming up with solutions whenever there’s something wrong. You can also have classes you can take to advance to different levels. It’s up to you if you want to take that adventure.

What are the cons of this job?
The cons of this job is that it’s very dirty. If you’re not careful you might just go home looking like someone else. You also have to work late night shifts leading up to midnight. I have been on night shifts for a year now and I have gotten used to it.

How many airplanes have you helped build with your team?
Me and my team, I had plenty of teams throughout my career as it changes constantly. We have built over 4,000 planes over the years. The time period for fixing up these planes, depends on what we have to do.

How does it feel when you see something you built?
It’s great to see an airplane that you helped build fly through the sky knowing that over 1.5 million people will fly on your airplane that you built. It never gets old, when you get to see a plane, especially the one you’ve been working on for a while, fly up in the sky, successfully. I even took my family to see a plane I helped build. The excitement never
dies down.

Any advice to people who want to pursue the same career?
Learn what an airplane does. Finish your studies. Research if this is the career you are actually willing to do, even with the cons. Learn what it takes to put one together and take the adventure.

This interview has really unveiled the experiences, bad and good, as a Boeing Mechanic. The interview with AJ Franklin has been an eye opener. It has stated the pros and cons of this job that we have been very familiar with but don’t actually know what goes on inside. Talking about his chosen career for 15 years really brings up a light to his passion for aviation. This career and many other careers out there, needs constant motivation, continuous passion and developing knowledge to be able to continue being interested and in line with your career.

Citation and Sources:

Image from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/business/boeing-787-dreamliner-
faa.html

Aj Franklin (aircraft mechanic)

Airplane Picture Website: