Do you ever look in the mirror and say “it must be the poor lighting?” Years of youth verifiably gone.

Smooth skin has turned into something of another form.

A form in which I’ll keep to myself so you don’t try to hunt me down.

Often times wrinkles associate with age and experience.

But is this always the case?

Is it instead a sign of constant stress, poor habits and work priorities that puts your health last?

There’s constant pressure to keep your aircraft maintenance short and to maximize cycles.

And not to mention the added pressure of AOGs.

AOGs are a recipe for wrinkles.

The wrinkle inducing AOG

Your aircraft has been grounded at your primary operating base.

The engineering department states that a hydraulic hose busted and you have no stock to replace it.

You’re instructed that the hose must be at your base for tomorrow afternoons flight.

You search the entire world but no hose is available.

One of your key partners provides you with a solution, but the 7 day lead time to assemble the hose puts you in a further predicament.

AOGs are stressful. From the time you find out about the AOG to the time the aircraft is in the air, the pressure is on.

You lose thousands of dollars every hour your aircraft is on the ground.

AOGs cause wrinkles because AOGs are stressful.

Aircraft maintenance isn’t always easy and the wrinkles you now see on your face are a product of this environment.

Stress causes wrinkles for several reasons:

• Stress damages cells which leads to premature aging
• Chronic stress contributes to an unhealthy lifestyle
• The stress hormone cortisol degrades collagen

Reduce stress, wrinkles and AOGs

Stress and aviation are not mutually exclusive.

When there’s one the other will be peaking it’s sly little head around the corner getting ready to pounce.

Sorry to break it to you but it’s completely up to you to balance the two.

From taking care of yourself and practicing time management to relying on trustworthy partners to meditation, it all plays an integral part in your wrinkle fighting, stress reducing aircraft maintenance initiatives.

Here a several ways you can reduce AOG induced wrinkles:

• Partner with people you trust and who help you solve problems, not just create them
• Have a sound logistics strategy in place
• Incorporate time management into your schedule
• Take care of your mind and body
• Meditate

Wrinkles and AOGs have one thing in common…stress. [CLICK TO TWEET]

To avoid stress you must work with reliable partners and make sure you have a take-care-of-yourself strategy.

These are the greatest ways to minimize AOGs and fine lines.

Do you have a case of “where did my wrinkles come from?” Do you have AOGs day in and day out? Comment below.