AMC 2026

Aerospace Maintenance Competition took place in Orlando, FL. AMFA insider interviewed some competitors from around the world.

Tom is the National Director of Safety and Standards.Timestamps:Tom Bio 0:45Local union activity 15:20National union position 32:40Common Safety issues 36:00Professional standards 45:50AMFA expansion 1:01:40Outro 1:15:15

Tune in to today’s episode of AMFA Insider as we sit down with National President Bret Oestreich to discuss the current state of AMFA and the path that brought the union to where it stands today.

On this episode of AMFA Insider, Scott sits down to talk with Jason Salazar, the ALR for Spirit Airlines. Jason has been with Spirit Airlines for 11 years and is in the process of negotiating their first ever union contract. Listen to this week's episode to hear Jason's take on what it takes to bring a union into a formerly non-union shop.

Mark Manning was the lead AMFA organizer that also later became the very first AMFA ALR within Canada as the very first represented AMFA workgroup L3 Harris MAS for 57 members in Ontario. Mark held a vision for many years that he along with others noticed Canada never had a Craft specific trades union for the Aircraft Maintenance Engineers and related that spoke to the specific needs of the craft. Today, Mark has been very actively engaged with others workgroups seeking help in bringing a Craft specific Union AMFA into Canada workplaces, most recently WestJet Airlines (2nd largest air carrier in Canada) became AMFA.

On this episode of AMFA Insider, Scott sits down to talk with former National Director for AMFA and current Secretary of the America's for AEI Louie Key. Key has been with Alaska Airlines for 43 years is and is set to retire later this year. Listen to this week's episode to hear how Key got into aviation and how things have evolved over the years as well as his involvement with AMFA as an airline rep and National Director. 

In this episode, Scott talks about the Aerospace Maintenance Competition that took place in Dallas, TX back in April of 2022. He interviews different technicians and asks about their experience and their time at the competition. Take a listen to learn more about how the 2022 Aerospace Maintenance Competition went. 

For today’s podcast, we are joined by Ken Mactiernan who has been an AMT Line Mechanic for the past 35 years. Ken walks us through his experience in the Air Force working on B-52s and swiftly brings us to the discussion of his experience as the Chairman of the Aerospace Maintenance Competition. Mactiernan offers us insight into the competition as well as his evolvement in the event. Listen to this episode to learn more about the Aerospace Maintenance Competition and Ken Mactiernan.

In this episode we speak with Justin Madden, Executive Director of Government Affairs for AMFA. Justin dives into the history of AMFA, discussing its original vision and how he has worked to help ensure AMFA mechanics and related are given a voice. Listen to this episode to learn more on how Justin is continuing the fight and what he and AMFA are fighting for.

In today's podcast, Scott Van de Motter talks with Southwest Aircraft Mechanic Karson Druckamiller. Druckamiller recently retired from Southwest Airlines after working as an aircraft mechanic for the company since 1971. Check out this episode to learn more about Karson Druckamiller as we celebrate his 50 years of service.