EXPERIENCE NEEDED
Finding those workers has become increasingly challenging over time. “Our biggest challenge is finding people with experience,” Bryck says. “A decade or so ago, there was more experience on the floor; a guy would know how to take care of an issue because he’d seen and done it 10 times before. Today, we have to have more policies and processes in place, and we try to counter lack of experience with more education and training. A lot of MRO experience drained away during COVID and didn’t come back.” Yet it’s not an insurmountable challenge. “Helicopter MRO is a niche market because the airlines dominate the market,” he says. “We can hire enough mechanics out of schools, but they don’t have the experience. Military resumes are highly valued by us because those mechanics gained experience on a particular system or engine in the service. We just have to get them more well-rounded (with experience in specific areas) to be a good fit.”
Those in the MRO sector are already too familiar with this shortage of technicians/ mechanics. Yet Bryck says he learned to optimistically spot opportunities from his boss and mentor, United Rotorcraft President Larry Alexandre. Bryck sees opportunity for United Rotorcraft in the MRO shortage of workers. “Many shops are at max. capacity and there’s work out there for the taking, specifically in rotorcraft, for those who are properly staffed to handle that work.”
Bryck is working hard to make United Rotorcraft one of those staffed shops. He regularly rises early before 5 a.m. Mountain time and talks during his drive-in commute to his shop in the Eastern time zone (and also to United Rotorcraft’s operation in Saudi Arabia), starts his day in Denver walking the shop floor with his team, and then strategizes and meets throughout the workday before getting home in time to cook his family’s evening dinner as self-proclaimed and designated “family chef.” (On the day of our interview, there’s chicken thawing in the fridge, but he hasn’t yet decided how he will prepare it; he’s determined it will be served with a salad.)
FAMILY & FUN
Friday dinner is often followed by family movie night, anticipated by all and especially enjoyed by children Anika (age 9) and Aiden (4). That kicks off a family weekend of enjoying the Colorado Rockies with hiking,
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mountain biking (Bryck’s lifelong sport), skiing, etc., depending on age and seasons. Bryck recommends Telluride as his favorite destination. “It’s the most amazing place, but I cannot make it there every weekend. I like out-of-the-way backcountry places; highway traffic is the bane of my existence.”
LOVE & PRIDE
Yet when the weekend is over, Bryck returns to his beloved rotorcraft, the true love of his maintenance career. He left cold, impersonal jet maintenance when this century began, found his heli passion, and speaks of helicopter maintenance in almost personal terms. “In the field, you are usually assigned to one helicopter; that aircraft becomes your responsibility and you get attached to it. You’re not just a member of a big crew checking in and out of an airport. It’s you and your aircraft. You inspect it, repair it, and even wash it; you get to know it. That’s what first attracted me to being a helicopter mechanic at Eagle Copters. In helicopter maintenance, there is still a love for the machine. In rotorcraft, there’s a lot of ownership and pride, and I think that will always remain in the helicopter industry.”
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