When traveling on Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA), you can easily recognize the pilot and flight crew. These friendly faces help make your trip comfortable and enjoyable as well as ensure you arrive at your destination safely.
But there are other people working around the clock to make your vacations and business trips possible. These are MEA’s aeronautical and maintenance engineers.
These employees belong to the Mideast Aircraft Services Company (MASCO), a subsidiary of Middle East Airlines. It was founded in 1955 and is the only maintenance service provider at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport.
MASCO employees work for long hectic hours and sometimes on the weekends to secure the safety and functionality of MEA’s fleet, as well as guarantee that it is continually operational.
Middle East Airlines (MEA) has a fleet of over a dozen operational Airbus airplanes, including A320s and A330s, with two new Airbus A321XL’s to join the fleet.
Unbeknownst to many, the planes must undergo several different types of maintenance procedures. There are critical daily checks and weekly checks as well as routine scheduled maintenance. The checks depend on flight hours and flight cycles.
For every 1000 hours of flight, a plane must undergo routine checks called A-Checks (Check A, Check A1, Check A2, and so on). Along with Check A’s, there are also Check C’s (heavy maintenance checks).
MASCO offers a wide range of services, including engineering, aircraft maintenance, aircraft painting, material management, fleet management, technical training, and consultation.
MASCO employees are currently risking their safety working on planes that are retrieving Lebanese stranded abroad, some of which come back infected with the coronavirus.
The next time you travel, don’t just smile at the flight attendants or clap for the pilot who landed the plane. Remember also the hard-working people behind the scenes who have made your trip possible as they do their best to make your flying experience a safe one.
