The Troubleshooting Skills Gap Is Costing Your Operation More Than You Think

Claudia Ouellet
Jan 20
4 min read

Updated: Jan 21

Here's what we keep hearing from maintenance managers from all over:

"My senior guys are retiring, and the young techs don't have anyone to learn from."

"We're cycling the same parts over and over, but the problem keeps coming back."

"My team knows their aircraft, but give them a snag out of left field and they're lost."

Sound familiar?

The Problem Nobody's Talking About

Today's AMEs are incredibly skilled. But there's a critical gap that's quietly draining budgets and grounding aircraft: systematic diagnostic methodology.

Here's what's changed:

Senior troubleshooters—the ones who could diagnose anything—are moving on to other positions or retiring
Young technicians have less hands-on mechanical experience than previous generations
Aircraft complexity is increasing while time to train is shrinking
The cost of trial-and-error troubleshooting keeps climbing

Without a structured approach, even experienced techs end up:

Replacing parts that aren't faulty
Missing root causes (hello, repeat snags)
Spending hours on issues that should take minutes
Struggling to mentor junior staff effectively

The real cost? Downtime. Parts waste. Regulatory headaches. Frustrated crews. Burned-out maintenance teams.

Why Basic Training Doesn't Fix This

The techs’ basic training is focussed on giving them a broad foundation. They don’t have the time or the capacity to teach troubleshooting, which is an advanced skill. It’s also very difficult to train people who haven’t been confronted with the reality of a maintenance operation: the pressure, the complexity, the costs component.

Until now, there hasn't been a course dedicated to building specific aircraft diagnostic skills.

Introducing Our Relaunched General Aviation Troubleshooting Course

This isn't another 30 000 thousand feet, theoretical exercise in drinking from a fire hydrant. It's the only general aircraft troubleshooting course on the market, and we've just made it even better.

This course compresses that learning curve dramatically—giving your team a proven framework they can start using immediately.

What's New in 2026

Extended Format: Now 3 full days in-person, plus 5 hours of online prep/re-work

Diagnostic Focus: Heavy emphasis on building game plans for complex faults

Universal Principles: Learn diagnostic fundamentals that work across any aircraft type—Dash-8, King Air, ATR, Saab, bush planes, you name it

Technical Publications Mastery: Complete deep-dive into cross-referencing manuals, wiring diagrams, and troubleshooting guides like a pro

Real-World Scenarios: Over half the course is hands-on case study work using actual maintenance scenarios

Who This Course Is For

✈️ Junior AMEs who need to build a solid troubleshooting foundation from day one

✈️ Experienced technicians looking to formalize their instincts into a repeatable method

✈️ Team leads and mentors who want to coach others with a proven framework

✈️ Anyone who's ever thought "there has to be a better way to approach this"

What You'll Actually Learn

This course gives you a systematic approach that works every time:

Scientific method applied to aircraft maintenance - Change one variable at a time, or you'll never know what fixed it
How each aircraft system actually works - Not model-specific details, but fundamental operating principles that apply universally
Building diagnostic game plans - The structured approach master troubleshooters use (often unconsciously)
Reading and cross-referencing tech pubs like an expert - AMM, WDM, SRM—making them work together
Mechanical and avionics integration - Understanding how systems interact to find root causes faster

The Practice That Makes It Stick

We use real maintenance scenarios from:

Beechcraft 1900
King Air series
Saab 340
ATR 42/72
Dash-8 series
Custom scenarios for your operation (if needed)

You'll spend more than half your in-class time working through these cases, building game plans, and getting immediate feedback from Greg.

Greg’s take

"I saw lightbulb moments all week. These weren't beginners—they were experienced AMEs. But suddenly having a framework to organize what they already knew? That's when everything clicked."

The Real ROI

When your team applies this methodology consistently, here's what changes:

Faster diagnostic - Structured approach eliminates wasted time

Fewer parts replacements - Identify actual faults instead of shotgunning components, and limit NFFs

Better aircraft availability - Less downtime means more revenue flights

Improved teamwork - Operations and maintenance speak the same diagnostic language

Reduced regulatory issues - Stop repetitive snags and chronic defects

Knowledge sharing - Your team can actually teach each other using the same framework

Higher confidence and job satisfaction - Less stress, more problem-solving wins

Why Greg Teaches It This Way

Gregory Blanc has been training aircraft maintenance professionals for over 15 years. He's not a career instructor who left the hangar decades ago—he still works line projects with clients today.

His credentials include:

M1/M2 licence with endorsements on most regional carriers
Human factors and CARs instructor
Regulatory auditor
15+ years developing practical training that actually works

But here's what matters most: Greg genuinely believes anyone can become a master troubleshooter with the right method and enough practice.

His teaching style is practical, non-judgmental, and focused on building capability—not just transferring information. If you've taken a Mentor Aero course before, you know what we mean. If you haven't, you're about to find out why our students keep coming back.

Course Details

Duration: 3 days in-person + 5 hours online prep/reference

Format: Hybrid (complete online modules before or after attending in-person sessions)

Location:

Your facility (we come to you)
Our training center at St-Hubert Airport, Quebec

Available: Starting March 2026

Class Size: Limited to ensure hands-on attention

Ready to Build Real Diagnostic Expertise?

The senior troubleshooters in your organization didn't develop their skills by accident. They built them through years of trial and error.

The calendar is filling up quickly for our spring sessions. Whether you're looking to develop junior staff, formalize the expertise of your experienced technicians, or create a common troubleshooting language across your maintenance team, this is the course that delivers.

Host company benefits apply - contact us for details on bringing this training to your facility.