WORKING WEEK
ightglobal.com 15 December 2015-4 January 2016 | Flight International | 51WORK EXPERIENCE LUIS GARCIA
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flightglobal.com/jobsLuis Garcia enjoys being a cross-cultural ambassador for the airframerSpeaking the language of clients
A career spent working for Boeing has given former mechanical engineering graduate and service engineer Luis Garcia
the experience to provide optimum customer service, with his language skills helping to bridge cultural dividesBoeingHow did you start out?
I was born and raised in a small
town in Ohio called Defiance.
After high school, I studied engi-
neering at Ohio State University
and graduated with a degree in
mechanical engineering. Boeing
was actively recruiting engineers
on campus, and after an orienta-
tion presentation from the com-
pany, I was sold on an exciting
career in aviation. Boeing has
given me the opportunity to
work in many different roles.
Boeing’s been your only
employer?
Most of my career has been in
customer service, which I have
found to be the most rewarding.
Early in my career, I worked in
design, stress analysis and manu-
facturing. As a service engineer, I
supported the structures organi-
sation in landing gear, nacelles
and wing and provided on-site
engineering support to the air-
craft on ground (AOG) recovery
team on several repairs in Spain,
Canada, Chile and China.
In 1998, I joined the field ser-
vice organisation and have had
short- and long-term assignments
in Brazil, Ireland, Saudi Arabia,
Texas, Panama and Chile. I have
also had the opportunity to visit
airline customers in Colombia,
Costa Rica, Honduras, El
Salvador, Mexico, Argentina and
Peru. Having a strong technical
background and second language
skills really improved my ability
to provide good customer service;
the ability to understand cultural
differences and adapt to the dif-ferent cultures is definitely need-
ed in a customer-facing position
like field service.
What are your current duties?
To ensure that my team provides
superior support to our valued
customers. We currently have
five permanent members on our
team. We provide first base train-
ing for new field representatives
and host many Boeing visitors
throughout the year. My respon-
sibilities are to manage and men-
tor my team, deliver on customer
expectations, build and maintain
key customer relationships, and
provide 24/7 technical support –
including AOG, line and ramp,
engineering, maintenance con-
trol, flight operations, material
management, fleet management
and special projects.I led the 787 entry into service
(EIS) team, which required close
co-ordination between Boeing
and our customers as they pre-
pared for the introduction of the
787 to their fleet.
We provided enhanced sup-
port in the implementation of
new technology into the airlines’
infrastructure. I felt honoured to
be a part of the 787 EIS pro-
gramme – it was one of the most
challenging and rewarding expe-
riences in my aviation career –
definitely a highlight.
What is your geographic range?
The Boeing field service office in
Santiago, Chile, currently sup-
ports customers in Chile and
Peru. When I was a field service
representative in Panama, I sup-
ported all of Central America andtravelled to Costa Rica, Honduras
and El Salvador as part of my
support network.
What’s the most difficult part of
your job?
The most difficult part of the job
is ensuring I have met all of our
customers’ expectations. It is not
enough to simply give an answer.
It is only by anticipating their
needs, based on relationships
and a true understanding of their
operations, that we can develop
the appropriate insight to truly
provide great customer support.
Another aspect of the job is
maintaining a sense of urgency
when providing customer sup-
port. There have been many
times when our team receives an
urgent request late in the day or
in the middle of the night and it
is our job to provide an expedited
response that will meet their ur-
gent needs any time, day or night.
What do you enjoy about it?
I enjoy the opportunity to work
with a customer that has a busi-
ness culture that is different from
what some might be accustomed
to in the USA. I believe that the
key to successful customer ser-
vice is the building of relation-
ships and trust. nIN ASSOCIATION WITHFlight to the future: our forecast for
long-haul air travel in the 2030s
http://www.flightglobal.com/vision2035
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