Why does nobody talk about the line guy who saved my AOG?

Last month in Phoenix, I had a bird strike that grounded a 737 and the parts guy at the counter hand-walked a replacement fan blade through customs in 6 hours instead of the quoted 3 days. He said he'd 'been there' after a bad night shift, and it got me thinking: are the unsung heroes the mechanics or the parts logistics people? Who's the one person in your shop or supply chain that made a nightmare job click, and what did they do?

2 comments

2 Comments

martin.paige24d ago

Notice how we only ever praise the person who turns the wrench or flies the plane, but the second a critical part goes missing, everyone's screaming at the guy on the phone. That parts guy is the same as the line cook who remembers your usual order or the IT dude who unblocks your login at 2am. We build these huge systems, then act shocked when one human actually cares enough to break the rules and make it work. I've seen it at grocery stores too, the stocker who hides a bag of the good coffee for the night crew. Nobody thanks them in the moment, but they're the reason the whole place doesn't fall apart. Your fan blade guy didn't just save your AOG, he proved that the boring middle part of any job is where the real magic lives.

the_angela22d ago

Honestly, @martin.paige, glorifying rule-breakers just lets the actual systems stay broken and lazy.