El Salvador Perspectives

I have written several times before about the growing numbers of US airlines which fly their passenger jets to El Salvador for maintenance work. The work is done by Aeroman, the maintenance subsidiary of TACA, and is a source of hundreds of good-paying jobs for the mechanics. I wrote about Frontier Airlines , Jet Blue and America West sending their planes south. When Southwest Airlines announced that it too might move maintenance work to El Salvador, my post produced a spirited debate about the possibility that safety might be compromised by using the less-expensive Salvadoran mechanics. There was no proof, and it might have just been put down to the pain of unionized American workers losing their jobs to foreign outsourcing. But now National Public Radio in the US has run an investigative report including interviews with Aeroman mechanics and instances of faulty work creating unsafe conditions on US Airways passenger jets. From the report: [T]he mechanics say managers keep pr...

El Salvador-based TACA Airlines announced this week that it is merging with the larger Colombian airline Avianca . The companies indicate that they will continue to operate the airlines with separate identities going forward. Since 1961, the airline has been owned by the Kriete family. They will own about 1/3 of the shares of the combined company. You can read a history of the company at this link from its founding by a New Zealander who flew in the Canadian air force in World War I until the present time when TACA operates an extensive route system throughout the Americas.

Southwest Airlines will have maintenance on some of its flight performed in El Salvador according to Dallas area news reports : Many U.S. airlines already outsource maintenance to foreign countries. The company Southwest will use in El Salvador, Aeroman, has already performed heavy maintenance work for other major U.S. Airlines. But, unions and consumer groups have objected to outsourcing, questioning the safety and oversight of work performed outside of the U.S., where mechanics are paid less than their American counterparts. Last year, BusinessWeek reported that mechanics at Aeroman make between $4,500 and $15,000 a year, while U.S. airplane mechanics earn an average of $52,000 a year. Southwest said it's confident that its new foreign maintenance provider is well qualified for the job. "They pass all or our really stringent tests for safety. They have a great track record," Flanagan said. The union that represents Southwest's mechanics previously agreed to allow...

I have written before about the sizable aircraft maintenance business in El Salvador. The leading company is Aeroman , which is 80% owned by ACTS , the aircraft maintenance arm of Air Canada. Formerly, Aeroman was owned by TACA, the Central American airline based in El Salvador. Operating out of El Salvador's international airport, Aeroman employs more than 1200 engineers and technicians. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times published an article highlighting the growing trend of airlines outsourcing their maintenance work to Aeroman: Aeroman performs a variety of maintenance tasks, including sprucing up cabins, upgrading electronic systems and performing the rigorous "nose-to-tail" checks required for all commercial aircraft by the FAA, typically every 12 to 18 months. The company serviced about 120 aircraft last year. Located in a modern facility at El Salvador International Airport, about 30 miles south of the capital, San Salvador, Aeroman employs 1,300 worke...

Three recent stories about business in El Salvador creating good jobs: Cutuco Energy, based in Houston, will begin construction in September on a new liquefied natural gas import terminal and power plant at the port of La Unión. According to the Cutuco Energy web site , work on the facility will create 1100 jobs to build and operate the facility which will also include a water desalinization plant producing 5.5 million gallons of fresh drinking water. An auto parts plant , run by the business Arnecom, opened in Santa Ana province. The business is funded with Japanese and Mexican capital investments and will produce more than 600 jobs. Air Canada has acquired an interest in the aircraft maintenance subsidiary of TACA airlines and plans to move maintenance of its fleet to El Salvador. According to a recent article in EDH , the expansion will create jobs for 517 engineers and 3,447 technicians between 2008 and 2012. That's about 5700 jobs, supporting 5700 families. Are these job...

One area where El Salvador has been attracting jobs recently involves outsourcing efforts by US-based airlines. A recent article on the Transportation Workers Union web site discusses how JetBlue and AmericaWest airlines both have outsourced maintenance work to Aeroman, the maintenance subsidiary of El Salvador based Grupo Taca. JetBlue Airways doesn't offer passenger service to El Salvador. But this year, the discount airline will fly at least 17 of its 68 Airbus A320 jets to that country. There, over six days, local mechanics working for an aircraft-overhaul shop under contract to JetBlue will inspect each plane nose to tail. They'll examine hydraulic and pneumatic systems, lubricate joints, service brakes and paint tray tables and toilet seats. Then the jets will fly back to the U.S. America West Airlines also is sending some of its planes to El Salvador for checkups required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. This week also brings stories about the decision of...