At Northern Air Maintenance Services, safety culture starts with leadership
Northern Air Maintenance Services was established in 2004 to provide passenger service for oil majors, shuttling natural resource development workers to and from the North Slope on rotational assignments. The operation maintains a precise schedule of three flights daily, five days a week, with three aircraft serviced by a dedicated maintenance team working across two shifts.
For NAMS Maintenance Supervisor Eric Spence, ensuring the safety of these flights is more than just a job – it’s a calling. “Every time I touch one of those airplanes there are 65 people’s lives in my hands,” he says.
From Military Service to Civilian Aviation
Spence found his way to NAMS through an unexpected path. After a 10-year stint in the Marines working on F-18s and F-35s, his final military assignment brought him to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. Like many service members stationed in Alaska, he fell in love with the state and decided to make it his home.
The transition to civilian aviation presented its own challenges. “The tough part about the military is they don’t gear you to get licensed. You have all the experience, but licensed parts are forgotten about because you don’t need it,” he explained. While working toward his A&P license, Spence took jobs in North Slope security and general aviation.
“We have what’s called the familiarization course. That’s a four-week training course where we have a representative from (the manufacturer’s) flight safety come up here. You spend about four weeks doing that training and then a lot of OJT’s (on the job training),” Spence explained.
Safety First: A Culture of Excellence
At NAMS, a Part 145 Repair Station, there’s no room for improvisation – every maintenance procedure follows manufacturer specifications exactly. While this might seem limiting to someone like Spence, who enjoys creative problem-solving as a private pilot and car mechanic, he appreciates the emphasis on quality and safety.
“It is the culture that is special. As far as maintenance is concerned… take the time to do it right, you know, no shortcuts,” Spence explains. “Everywhere else you go, if an airplane is sitting still, you’re not making money, so you need to do everything you can to get the airplane back in the air. Our customer says if you have something that needs to be taken care of, take the time to do it. That’s my favorite part.”
Building a Team of Conscientious Craftsmen
When hiring new team members, Spence looks beyond technical skills to find mechanics who share this commitment to excellence. “What I look for is the type of person that’s not just worried about job completion but wants to put in time to do it right,” he explains. “It’s the little things–you know sealant, right? You can absolutely tell the guys who care and the guys who don’t cause the ones who don’t care it’s just slopped everywhere. The guys who care, do a nice job and keep it really clean and neat. You know, I can watch somebody do something out here and I know what type they are.”
This attention to detail is supported by mandatory oversight procedures, where all work must be inspected before an aircraft returns to service. “If they catch something that you missed that’s good because it was caught. Basically, I’m not trying to get you, I’m trying to cover you.”
Spence and his team ensure that every flight carries its precious cargo – the lives of dozens of workers – safely to their destination.
Leadership Through Understanding
Spence’s management style emphasizes engagement and understanding. Rather than simply giving orders, he ensures his team understands the reasoning behind each task.
“Coming up, I had leadership that was a lot of ‘just shut up, do your job, you don’t need to know why.’ That’s something that I always wanted to change, and I’ve been able to do that as a lead. You can tell the environment of your team changes when they get that respect, they develop a personal investment in what you’re doing,” he says. “Investment in the outcome has always been a part of why I do things. I’m not a ‘do this because I said so’ person. It’s an instinct not to do it. Like, hands down, even from childhood,” he laughed.
“My primary purpose here is forward thinking, planning and working ahead so that the team can just focus on what they need to do.”
After reading turnover reports, debriefing with the previous shift lead, and reviewing timecards, you’ll find him out on the floor with his team, whom he describes as family. “It’s really easy to work with the people around here. It’s a small enough group where you know everybody, but it’s also large enough to where every day brings new interaction.”
Through this combination of rigorous standards and supportive leadership, Spence and his team ensure that every flight carries its precious cargo – the lives of dozens of workers – safely to their destination.
