SOURCE: Perspective, Article from the American Way Magazine
I am a Machinist by Trade.
For the last 30 years, I’ve had the pleasure of doing a job I love as an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) at the American Airlines Base Maintenance facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I’ve worked on nearly every aircraft type in our fleet, but my favorite is our recently retired McDonnell Douglas MD-80. The fleet was growing when I came to work, and I spent the bulk of my career working on the Pratt and Whitney JT8-217 motors that powered them.
I love the way aircraft and aviation bring people together; it’s powerful. Tech Ops – Tulsa is my home away from home, and my colleagues are more like family than coworkers. That’s an incredible gift, especially considering I work at the largest commercial aircraft maintenance facility in the world with thousands of people in dozens of buildings.
This sense of community is what brings thousands of us together every year, after hours and on days off, to volunteer and serve others through the American Red Cross.
The Transport Workers Union 514 and American team members at the base have been saving lives in partnership with American Red Cross since 1954 by hosting blood drives at the maintenance base five times a year. I’ve had the pleasure of serving as the volunteer coordinator for the past 10 years, but I couldn’t do it without my colleagues: AMTs Shawn Allan and Donna Florea, and Overhaul Support Mechanic Amanda Cates. The Red Cross provides 40% of the nation’s blood supply. Our blood drive collects about 400 to 500 units of blood each drive, which puts Tulsa among the top 20 blood drives in the nation. It’s one of the longest-running blood drives in the state of Oklahoma and among the longest running nationally. The blood we donate helps patients of all ages – accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients and those battling cancer.
In fact, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. American is proud to donate miles to the Red Cross for staff and volunteers to travel and provide critical services in times of need as a $1 million member of their Annual Disaster Giving Program. I’m proud that our commitment to the organization’s mission goes beyond the blood drives. Earlier this year, we raised more than $3 million to support relief efforts at the front lines of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Together with our customers, we raised more than $1 million for the American Red Cross in the first 24 hours of the campaign – a feat that’s never been accomplished in our partnership with the Red Cross before.
On behalf of American’s team members, I want to thank you for flying with us today. It’s our pleasure to care for the communities and individuals we serve every day because you are why we fly.
Del Cotton
AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN
TECH OPS – TULSA