FedEx Express Wins 2023 William F. O’Brien Award for Second Consecutive Year
420 competitors. 84 teams. 26 events. One champion.
Teams of aircraft maintenance professionals descended into Atlanta for the annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC) Presented by Snap-on, and for the second consecutive year, FedEx Express demonstrated why they are the best.
After dozens of category, individual and scholarship awards were bestowed by AMC Chairman Ken MacTiernan, he closed the 2023 competition by announcing FedEx Express as recipients of the coveted William F. “Bill” O’Brien Award for Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance.
“We were elated to hear we won the O’Brien award. All the hours of hard work and studying really paid off,” said Rob Shrum, captain of FedEx Express. “I want to thank FedEx for giving us this opportunity. It says a lot about how much they care about the technicians. We had an all-new team this year, and we benefitted from FedEx’s network of past competitors, including last year’s winning team from FedEx Indy.”
Joining Shrum on FedEx Express were Jesse Denson, Tony Digiannantoni, Oscar Romo, Darin Campbell and Brian Davidson.
Shrum also wanted to thank several people within the FedEx family for helping them capture the title, including Scott Ogden, Les Frank, Rich Ugarte, Mike Sanford, Chris Hart, Gary Lyons, Christian Kline and Meschelle Barnes, as well as AMC organizers Ken MacTiernan and John Goglia and their team for hosting the event.
The William F. “Bill” O’Brien Award for Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance is the grand prize for the team with the overall winning score in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition. The 4-foot-tall O’Brien trophy will be on display at FedEx Indianapolis’ maintenance facility for the next 12 months. The trophy features a bust of Charles E. Taylor, an aviation pioneer who built and maintained the first aircraft engine used by the Wright Brothers. Sponsorship of the Award is part of Snap-on’s continued commitment to the Aerospace Maintenance Competition and aviation maintenance technicians around the world.
“What a moment for this team of talented professionals,” said Bill Willetts, Vice President, Critical Industries at Snap-on Industrial. “On behalf of the thousands of Snap-on professionals around the world, I would like to congratulate the skilled technicians at FedEx Express, as well as all 84 teams, for their accomplishments at this year’s AMC. Current and future aircraft technicians are critical to us; they keep goods moving around the world; put assets into space, support military initiatives, and keep families flying safe. It was fantastic to see their energy and dedication to this important craft here at AMC.”
The Aerospace Maintenance Competition Presented by Snap-on, and hosted by the Aerospace Maintenance Council (www.aerospacecompetition.com), is an event that gives teams of licensed AMTs, AMEs, international military personnel and qualified aviation maintenance students the chance to test their aviation maintenance skills against those of their peers. The competition included 26 challenges in areas such as avionics; safety wiring; fiber optics/flight control rigging; hydraulics; jet engine troubleshooting; workplace safety SMS; and other tasks. Teams had 15 minutes to accurately complete each task; teams that finished their tasks in less than the allotted time received higher scores.
“The Aerospace Maintenance Competition is designed to showcase the incredible knowledge, skills and integrity of aircraft technicians and students,” said Ken MacTiernan, Chairman of the Aerospace Maintenance Competition. “The amount of talent and level of enthusiasm on display this week leaves no doubt in my mind that the industry is in good hands moving forward.”
Major Category Winners
Space Category
· 1st place: Blue Origin Test & Flight Operations
MRO/OEM Category
· 1st place: FedEx Express
· 2nd place: United Airlines - Base/Line
· 3rd place: Southwest Airlines - Team Colleen
School Category
· 1st place: Embry-Riddle University - Team 2
· 2nd place: MIAT College of Technology - Team 1
· 3rd place: Liberty University
Military Category
· 1st place: United States Army - 128th Aviation Brigade - Team Blackhawk
· 2nd place: United States Army - Team Apache
· 3rd place: United States Army - 128th Aviation Brigade - Team Chinook
Commercial Category
· 1st place: United Airlines - Line
· 2nd place: Alaska Airlines - Team Seattle
· 3rd place: Alaska Airlines - Team Anchorage
International Category / Paul Cousins Award
· 1st place - Azul Tech MRO (Team 36)
United Competing with Professionalism Award
· MIAT College of Technology®
· Embry-Riddle University – Team 1
Charles E. Taylor Professional AMT Award
· Industry: Samantha Reid, WestJet (Team 71)
· Student: Ryan Greer, Indian Hills Community College (Team 8)
AMC Peer Award
· Tulsa Tech Aerospace Academy (Team 33)
Dream Team Award
· Embry-Riddle University - Team 2
Scholarship Winners
· Julia Rose Cagasan, Liberty University, $2500 Phoebe Omlie Scholarship (presented by AMC) and NRF Grant
· Janille Hargreaves, MIAT College of Technology, $2500 Phoebe Omlie Scholarship (presented by AMC)
· Kayla Hesano, Southern Illinois University, $2000 Phoebe Omlie Scholarship (presented by TechForce)
· Jessica Townsend, Indian Hills Community College, NRF Grant
· Erik Smith, Portland Community College, NRF Grant
In addition to the William F. “Bill” O’Brien Award for Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance, Snap-on provided all the tools and equipment used by the participants during the competition and donated more than $140,000 in tools and equipment prizes to top finishers in the competition. More than 50 other companies, educational institutions, community organizers and individual volunteers contributed time, resources, prizes, product and airline miles to the event. Other top sponsors include American Airlines and Pratt & Whitney (Platinum); Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, PPG, Barfield, Teamsters, GE Aerospace and United Airlines (Gold).
