Jets MRO Puts Aircraft Mechanics’ Needs as Top Priority

Nearly two years since Suresh Narayanan launched business jet maintenance company Jets MRO at Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD), business is growing, mechanic turnover is low, and the company is the largest employer at the formerly underutilized airport.

Earlier this year, Jets MRO moved from a smaller hangar at KRBD to a new, purpose-built MRO facility on the south, undeveloped side of the airport. Part of the Jets MRO plan includes adding another hangar in the next three years, and Narayanan hopes the company will become the largest independent business aviation MRO facility in the Southwest U.S.

Coincidentally, an A&P school—Dallas College—moved into Jets MRO’s old facility at KRBD, giving graduates first-mover access to Narayanan’s company.

Hiring is about much more than access to qualified personnel, however, and Narayanan has a mandate to figure out how to retain great employees as one means of tackling the shortage of mechanics.

This starts with making the facility a comfortable place to work, and the purpose-built hangar certainly helps. In addition to well-equipped back shops, a flawlessly clean floor, and all the necessary tools, the hangar is air-conditioned, not to frigid temperatures but to a maximum of 20 degrees F cooler than outside, which dries out the humid Dallas summer atmosphere and also provides a significant measure of comfort inside the hangar. Big Ass-branded fans circulate the air inside as well.

Keeping customers happy depends on a happy workforce, and Narayanan often comes back to that topic. He is involved in the hiring process from the beginning and screens potential employees to make sure they match Jets MRO’s values. Once hired, he said, “My job is to help the team.” Voluntary turnover is just 6%. “We look at it as it’s someone firing us,” he added. “It’s hard on us.”

All employees participate in internal surveys, one-to-one meetings every month, and frequent meetings to discuss issues. Jets MRO shares financial and operational performance with employees and even made its technician payscale public so prospective and current employees could see how they can progress at the company. There is also no forced overtime or on-call requirements; these are optional. “It just burns people out when you push too hard,” he said.

Narayanan likes to share information with other MROs to help improve the industry for all participants. To that end, he is participating in a panel session tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at NBAA-BACE, titled “Retain to Gain: Leadership Strategies for Keeping Mechanics and Maintenance Team Members.”

Another factor in Jets MRO’s growth is consistency. This means being selective on the aircraft types that it will work on and not trying to satisfy every potential customer. The lines of aircraft Jets MRO services include Bombardier’s Learjet 40/45 and Challenger 300 and 600 series, as well as certain Cessna Citation models. “We love the idea of maintenance consistency,” Narayanan said.

This expertise not only helps with mechanic training and parts supply consistency but also encourages repeat customers. When customers come back, he explained, the reliability of their aircraft soars, as opposed to hopping from shop to shop in search of the lowest prices. In any case, high reliability ultimately equates to lower costs.

Narayanan understands the importance of reliability and aircraft availability, having worked for a large charter operator. Delivering aircraft after an inspection event on time is critical, and Jets MRO enters into professional service level agreements with operators, guaranteeing on-time delivery, or if late, refunding 7% of the cost of the job.

On-time performance doesn’t just mean delivering when promised, however, because a problem after the delivery could affect the aircraft’s uptime. So Jets MRO tracks the performance of its customers’ aircraft for 30 days after completing the job. If something happens and it’s Jets MRO’s fault, it takes responsibility and doesn’t count that as an on-time delivery.

This kind of service commitment and the quality of work are attracting a lot of business, such that Jets MRO is open and staffed seven days a week. Consequently, Narayanan said, “We turn away a lot of work. It’s the right thing to do if you want to deliver on time.”

When it comes to bidding on jobs, Jets MRO is careful to consider not only the expected time required for, say, an inspection, but also the time needed to fix any discrepancies found. With deep knowledge of the aircraft lines serviced, the Jets MRO team is able to add the time for expected findings to the inspection time to come up with an accurate bid and guaranteed delivery timeline.

If there are major repairs needed after intake, that might require more time, and in that case, the customer will be apprised and the timeline revised.

While Jets MRO has “an amazing parts department,” according to Narayanan, the company has also developed in-house manufacturing capability so it can keep a job moving forward by fabricating parts. During a recent job, a fuel vent tube was stuck in customs processing, so the Jets MRO team made one, and the airplane left on time. “Always have a plan B,” he said.

In January, Jets MRO will celebrate its two-year anniversary. “Starting any business and growing it is like getting punched in the face,” Narayanan said. “Maintenance is very technical. It’s hard. I thought it would be easier by miles. Every day I continue to learn.”