Jonathan Lincoln wanted a career where he didn’t have to search for new employment every year or so. His job at the time of entering A&P school was a Xerox tech. "Xerox does a great job in their training on breaking down the principals of troubleshooting. I got good at troubleshooting and knew I wanted to go down that road, but again in a career that didn’t top out at $12/hour. What I liked besides the initial “coolness” idea of working on planes was that unlike auto mechanics, there was little to no room for hodgepodge maintenance (jerry rigging), do it right or don’t do it at all." He received his training at MIAT College of Technology.
Most of his career has been on the regional jets, Bombardier and Embraer products. He was a mechanic with Mesa Airlines shortly after getting his tickets. He rose through the ranks as foreman and base manager of two different maintenance bases. He left Mesa to get back home to Michigan as the commuting life is a tough one. Then he was given the opportunity to come to Pinnacle Airlines at Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) as an avionics line technician. "It was good to get back to wrenching instead of only office work. I have been at Pinnacle, now Endeavor Air, ever since as a maintenance operations technical representative (MOTR). My job includes reliability tracking, AOG support, being a liaison between other departments and companies like the OEM to work on short- and long-term issues. It’s by far the best job I have held in aviation because I get a mix of hands-on and behind the scene work and I feel like some of the work my team does has a larger effect than just the immediate repair."
He recently received the company's LEAD17 award for his work on a test box created to help troubleshoot and eliminate high cost repairs to aircraft computers. This box has been replicated and distributed to all Endeavor maintenance bases and has proven to reduce cost and AOS time dramatically.
He has completed numerous training classes through Endeavor, Bombardier, and other OEM vendors. And he attends and participates in several Bombardier and OEM vendor conferences and is involved in several work groups to improve systems and/or rewrite manuals.
Nominated by Amy Kienast, Director of Career Services, MIAT College of Technology: "Jon Lincoln is a problem-solver and people have come to rely on him for this unique set of skills. He often receives a call from his boss for a last minute trip out of state or the country to fix an airplane because everyone else is stumped on what could be the problem. Jon is also one of the first alumni of MIAT College of Technology to volunteer his time to help with special events to get younger kids interested in aviation maintenance careers. He will do hands-on demonstrations to show the youth how they can have a great career in aviation by using science, math, and technology."
As for the future, Lincoln says, "There is so much more to this world of aircraft than the average mechanic gets to see. Engineering, both design and in-service, tech support, reliability initiatives, management (low, middle, and upper level). In my current job I get to be a part of all of it at once, and I love what I do. My biggest career goal that has never changed: I don't dread coming to work every day, but I thrive on coming in every morning."
