HONOURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: BUILDING PATHWAYS IN THE SKY

Just four months after Matthew Lopez began working at MHIRJ, he received life-altering news in the form of a medical diagnosis. Lopez, a Non-Destructive Technician (NDT), had been hired at MHIRJ in June 2024. As a retired U.S. military veteran, Lopez was looking forward to continuing his civilian career at MHIRJ when he learned the news in October 2024. Right away, Lopez contacted his supervisor to inform him and inquire as to any next steps he would need to take.

Empathy over policy

"I was expecting not to have a job. My supervisor and HR reassured me: 'Hey, just take care of what you need. You'll have a job when you get back,'" said Lopez.

According to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees are typically eligible for job protection after a 12-month employment period. Lopez, still in his probationary period of employment, knew his time at MHIRJ might be cut short. However, instead of receiving news that his employment would end, Lopez was met with something not often seen in larger companies: understanding. The HR team and Lopez’s supervisor prioritized his health and well-being, with the potential to come back to work when his health improved.

“I was very surprised that they were going to be okay with me being on medical for possibly longer than I’ve been actually at the job,” said Lopez.

Time to heal without pressure

Beyond formal support, the HR team and Lopez’s supervisor would regularly check in on him—not to ask for a timeline of when he would return, but simply to see how he was doing.

“They would call and check on me once every couple of weeks to see how I m doing and just to see how everything’s going.”

For Lopez, the space to focus on health and family made all the difference. The diagnosis has brought fear and uncertainty—not just about his health, but also his livelihood and the people who depended on him.

“When everything went down, you know, I was scared over the medical diagnosis, not knowing
what’s going to happen in my work life and worry about my family. The most helpful thing at the time was just being able to focus on my home life and not worry about the work life,” said Lopez.

Gratitude and a full return

Lopez’s story of unexpected bad news is far from the norm. Every day people go through hardships that don’t align with the “12-month” timeline typically required before a job is considered protected. His experience is a reminder that behind every job title is a person with a life outside of work—one that doesn’t pause for professional timelines or policy milestones. It reminds us the value of empathy in the workplace and the importance of creating space for employees to prioritize their health when it matters most.

Now fully back in his role as a Non-Destructive Technician, Lopez chose to share his story as a way to express gratitude—for the people who gave him the space to focus on what mattered most during a time that made all the difference.

As the first woman admitted to Aviation High School in New York City, Lori Dimarco knows a thing or two about being the only one in the room. Now Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Mesa Airlines, Dimarco has carved out a decades-long career in aviation maintenance.

Starting with cleaning aircraft, to working in maintenance at JFK, and rising to a leadership role, Dimarco reflects on her journey, the importance of representation, and her passion for paying it forward.

“I was the first woman admitted to Aviation High School. In my freshman year, I was the only girl in the school with 2,700 guys.”

From mentoring students at her alma mater to cheering them on at the MRO Americas Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC), she’s not just supporting the next generation, she’s showing them what’s possible. “They're competing against adults and they're high school students. So, I love to watch that. That they're enjoying themselves and learning as they go,” Lori said.

 

The competition tests the skills and knowledge of aviation maintenance technicians and students. Around 90 teams compete in 27 hands-on maintenance events across six categories: commercial aviation, general aviation. military, repair and manufacturing, schools, and space.

Each team consists of five members tackling challenges that test real-world maintenance skills. Events include tasks like fuel nozzle replacements, avionics troubleshooting, and composite repairs. The competition is designed to simulate the high-pressure environment of aviation maintenance, emphasizing safety, precision, and teamwork.

The dedicated category for schools not only tests students’ skills with challenges similar to those faced by industry professionals, but also inspires them to pursue careers in aviation—just as Lori Dimarco did, paving the way for future generations to break barriers and keep climbing.

When reflecting on her career now, she added: “It's just about loving what you do. And I love what I do,”

As valedictorian of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and a recent panelist at MRO Americas, Tiffany Bolin represents the next generation of aviation maintenance professionals with skill, confidence, and humility. From working on cars to speaking on industry panels, her journey reflects hard work and a commitment to excellence.
 

MHIRJ: Tiffany, you were just on a panel about attracting the next generation aviation maintenance technicians. How do you feel about being here on a panel at MRO Americas talking about this very important topic?

Tiffany: Surreal. It feels not real. The whole drive up here, I didn't click until I was walking in the building what I was about to be doing. It's just an amazing opportunity and it blows my mind every day when I wake up and realize what I've done so far with my life at such a young age. And it's been great.

What really led to me being here is during the entire 21 months of being at the school, I was our student body president, so I was already in the minds of all the administrators of the school. But along with being the president, I was also a 4.0 student, valedictorian and at the top of my class in each class that I was in. So, graduating from there, I got the email to come on here and it was incredible. That's how I got here is just from being so high up and honored in my school. It really shines spotlight on me for other opportunities.

MHIRJ: What attracted you to aviation?

Tiffany: I was always interested in mechanics and just how things work. And I worked on cars for a majority of my life and I learned basically everything there's to know about a car. So next step up, planes. So that's what got me into the school and then being in the school is what drew my passion for it.

MHIRJ: Tell us about your experience of being in a school environment, and now passing your test in a month from now. We wish you tremendous luck. What are you looking for as a future employer?

Tiffany: I'm looking for an employer who values their employees, but over making money that sees their employees as someone who they can count on for anything. That's what I see myself as. I see myself as someone anyone can count on for anything at any time. At the drop of a hat. I'm down to help anybody. I think that's a lot of what the industry can do to attract more people and to retain them in their companies is to see them as who they are.

MHIRJ: Talk to us about the employer and school relationship. What do you think employers can do in working with schools in order to create more opportunities for networking amongst these two parties?

Tiffany: I know the school that I went to, the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, they have career fairs where employers in different industries, like airlines, would come into the school and then the students would come dressed professionally with their resumes in hand and hand resumes to everybody. But the issue that we ran into with that is companies needing you to have you’re A&P license before you can even work there, being as we're still in school, none of us have our license yet. So that makes it a little difficult. But if there were employers that offered more apprenticeships, more networking in their company, and more open to calls at any time – if there were more people like that coming to the schools and talking to the students, I think that would be tremendous for the upcoming mechanics in the industry.

MHIRJ: That’s great advice. Tell us about your personal experience of being in the minority 3% of the workforce in aviation maintenance. What's your take on it?

Tiffany: My experience so far has been great. At the beginning, it started off as treating me differently, treating me softer than they would treat the male students — “Oh, do you need help with this? Do you need help tightening this? Let me pick that up for you.” And I think that's what breaks the industry apart and what throws so many women off, is being seen as separate, being seen as the minority instead of being seen for who we are and being the best that we can be at all times. I think that's what helps a lot.

MHIRJ: What's driven you? What keeps you motivated?

Tiffany: I think at this moment, when I say what keeps me motivated is my family. My dad, he did aviation when he was in the Navy, so he knows all about the industry. He keeps me motivated and tells me what to expect, those types of things. But also, my niece and nephew, and being a good role model for them and letting them know that they can do anything. Especially my niece, being a woman, letting her know that her Aunt Tiffany is a mechanic now, so it means she can do that too. And that's just crazy. It's incredible.

MHIRJ: Are you enjoying it?

Tiffany: I'm loving it.