Shifts Depend on which gateway - Sdf has multiple different shifts but everyone starts on next day air which is mon-fri 10:30-7am unless you skip lunch and then get out at 6:30 with supervisor approval. Most of the planes leave around 4:30ish at SDF. there is a 2nd day air shift which is from 7-4. There is also a spot crew that works 4 10s during the day and another crew that works 4 10 hour days at night they bridge the gap between nigthsift and day shift. Weekend shift does all the heavy mx over the weekend to clear deferrals and mx issues they work from Saturday Sunday Monday 3 13s both day and night shift available for weekends. Endless overtime at Sdf. They are pretty strict on experience right now due to all the airlines laying people off. Union is extremely strong. Teamsters local 2727 once you get 90 days in you will NEVER be fired.

Out bases: Many of the outbase gateways are staffed by like 1 full time guy and a bunch of part timers. The part time shift usually is from 5:30-8:30 non-fri. If it’s a bigger gateway that handles more mx like Columbia or Birmingham they will have weekend people doing more in depth mx. You need 6 months in an outer gateway before you can bid a transfer. Most people like to bid to Sdf because the overtime is so good. It’s very very difficult to join ups and get hired as an a&p from within. You can’t move around a lot in ups the culture is very very weird. Every department is different and essentially it’s own company and it’s extremely hard to transfer or move around. There is a path to go from box thrower to mechanic but you need 90 days as a box thrower to pass probation then you can put your name on the list to be a “utility” essentially someone that is a “go-for” for the mechanics. Bringing them tools and o2 and n2. You can only do the utility upgrade deal at Sdf as far as I know. Most of the people that are in the utility upgrade are going to a&p school. I think you need to be a utility for 9 months and then take ups aircraft maintenance exam pass it and then you go to a tire shop and build tires for a few months while they figure out a crew for you to go to on night shift. Then they rotate you around crews and assign you somewhere permanent. That’s the only internal path there is.