What is your function and what do you do all day, or in your case, all night?
I'm Stephan Allensbach, 45 years old, and have been Production Manager Hangar Maintenance on the night shift since 2016. I manage a team of around 50 employees, consisting mainly of mechanics and technicians.
We are responsible for ensuring that all aircraft can be handed back to OPS in the morning in technically perfect condition. We look after about 40 aircraft per night shift, with our main business being short-haul, mainly the Airbus 220 and A320. Then there are tasks such as routine A-checks of long-haul and Edelweiss aircraft, and a whole bunch of smaller planned and unplanned jobs.
How long have you been in this position and what do you particularly like about your job?
I already did my apprenticeship at Swissair and was able to stay with the company afterwards. This summer, I've been at Zurich Airport for 30 years. In 2010, I took the opportunity to return to SWISS. First, I worked as a mechanic, then I became team leader. My highlight is when I come in on a Saturday evening, the hangars are dark and empty, and then the lights come on, the planes and my team arrive, and the work begins: from the arrival of the planes to resource planning and coordination.
When the hangar is empty again in the morning, I'm the last to leave and the aircraft are ready for the day, it's a great feeling. It's also very exciting to work with all the different people from different cultures. Out of 50 employees, about half are not residents of Switzerland. They fly to Switzerland, work for five nights and then fly home again.
What does a typical night shift look like for you?
At night, we are two production managers and four team leaders. In the evening, we start planning and coordinating all the employees, who are divided among the 40 or so planes. Where do we need more and where fewer people? How can they be deployed efficiently? The allocation varies depending on the qualification of the employees. They are distributed in the hangar or outside directly on the airside, since not all aircraft have space in the hangar.
"An aircraft may arrive unexpectedly, having suffered a lightning strike or bird strike, for example. "
Production Manager Hangar Maintenance
Together with the leaders, the work is then distributed, the mechanics pick up materials, tools and papers and go to the respective aircraft. In the hangar, there are usually larger teams of up to 12 people working on an aircraft like an A340. Of course, you can never plan everything, because an airplane can arrive unexpectedly, for example, if it has suffered a lightning strike or a bird strike.
My job is to make decisions in the background when aircraft are on the ground or missing parts must be ordered. For example, I have to decide which aircraft we can leave on the ground a little longer if we see that not all the aircraft will be ready to go in time. This often depends on good communication with the Maintenance Control Center and Operations. Around four o'clock in the morning, I confer with the leaders and see what could be done and what is still open. I relay that information to Maintenance Control Center and OPS so they know which aircraft are ready.
At the end of the shift, the aircraft are driven out of the hangar again, after which all the bureaucratic things are taken care of and there is a debriefing with the employees. For me, the handover with the planning and day shift is still on the agenda, so that everything is clear for the day operations. And then it's time for a well-deserved break.
Have you always had such a fascination for flying? And do you like to travel yourself?
Yes, definitely. That's why I did my apprenticeship as a machine mechanic at Swissair. When I was still at school, we used to ride our bikes to the military airfield in Dübendorf to look at the planes. I was then drawn to civil aviation, while my friends were more enthusiastic about military aircraft. I like to travel myself and of course still watch when a plane takes off. Sometimes I use the FlightRadar app when I see a plane over my house in the backyard.
What do you do for compensation when you might also have a day off?
I like to go biking in the mountains to compensate. But I'm basically open to all kinds of sports, you can do anything with me (laughs). I was also able to take over two pieces of forest from my father, and I spend a lot of time there cutting down trees. The contrast is exciting: Here at work everything has to be exact, and in the forest, I can also leave the tree there sometimes and clear it away the next time.
We thank Stephan for this fascinating insight into his work.
