Outside Mechanics OKd Inside Airports

The state Senate on Friday approved a bill prohibiting public airports from denying access to outside mechanics.

The unusual “one-man” bill, so-called because it was aimed at benefitting one specific individual but could affect many others, was sent to the Assembly on a 26-1 vote with only Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) abstaining.

The bill arose from a dispute between Richard Dingman, a Whittier free-lance aircraft mechanic, and officials at Fullerton Airport and Twentynine Palms Airport. Dingman said he complained 8 months ago to Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) that he had been asked by airplane owners to service and repair their planes but was blocked by airport officials.

Current law allows public airports to grant exclusive rights to certain companies and limit outside mechanics in order to ensure safety, security and quality while avoiding duplicating services.

The bill authored by Campbell would allow aircraft owners or operators to select mechanics of their choice to service their aircraft if the mechanic is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and carries at least $1 million in liability insurance. The airport would be required to grant the mechanic “reasonable access.”

Campbell said the measure addresses a “fundamental issue of fairness. He (Dingman) is a great mechanic. He’s been one for 40 years. But he is being denied the right to make a living.”

Dingman said: “There’s no such thing as free business at an airport. . . . The managers and directors are operating a monopoly and that’s not right.”

He said he pursued his fight alone. However, if eventually adopted as law, the measure could conceivably affect every airport mechanic, operator or aircraft owner in the same situation.

Dan Brady of Westwind Aero, a fixed-base operator at Twentynine Palms Airport, said he was “incensed” that the bill had been drafted and voted on without the knowledge of companies such as his that rent, fuel and service airplanes.

“We had no idea there was a case,” Brady said. “Legislation should include comment from all parties. The Federal Aviation Administration stand is certainly opposite. It’s for safety (that) they want to deny tailgate-type mechanics without insurance or proper facilities.”