Honeywell ‘Tool Man’ Focuses On Customer Service

Field Service Engineer Clark Rodgers grew up with a wrench in his hand. He was one of those kids who loved to tinker with mechanical things, he remembers, comparing himself to “Tim the Tool Man” on the “Home Improvement” TV sitcom.

Rodgers never outgrew his innate drive to fix things. But nowadays, instead of tuning-up lawnmower motors, he’s on the front lines helping Honeywell business aviation customers keep their propulsion engines and auxiliary power units in tip-top condition.

“Nothing gives me more satisfaction than helping a customer prevent or solve an engine problem,” he said. “I mostly work with directors of maintenance or mechanics who take care of the whole aircraft. They aren’t engine specialists so they turn to me when they have questions or have an aircraft on the ground. My job is to take the burden off their shoulders and help them keep their executive passengers flying.”

Responding quickly to customers is a priority for Rodgers and Honeywell. Many customer requests are handled over the phone, by email or by sending a crew from one of Honeywell’s trusted channel partners. But sometimes Rodgers can’t resist getting his hands dirty.

“Earlier in my career we had an AOG in Caracas during a time of turmoil in Venezuela,” he recalled. “The customer was eager to get the engine replaced quickly and get the airplane back to the U.S., so instead of being there in a support role I jumped in to help the assigned tech. It really wasn’t my job, but it just felt like the right thing to do for the customer. And it was a lot of fun to work on an engine again!”

With 35 years in the aviation industry and 20 with Honeywell, Rodgers knows his way around aircraft engines like Honeywell’s TFE731, CFE738 and HTF7000. So well, in fact, that he recently was a featured speaker on the HTF7000 at a National Business Aviation Association Regional Conference in Ft. Worth.

Rodgers is co-located with Flexjet near Dallas. Flexjet is a world leader in the fractional ownership side of business aviation and operates of global fleet of over 125 business jets, ranging from light and super-light models, like the Learjet 75LXi, to large and ultra-long-range Gulfstream G450s, G500s and G650s and Global Expresses.

“I consider myself almost an extension of the Flexjet maintenance team,” Rodgers said. “I’m on the flight line and in the hangar almost every day. I know all the techs on a first-name basis and they don’t hesitate to call me, day or night, if they have a question about any Honeywell mechanical product.”

He also has built relationships with customers in every corner of the globe. As a member of the Aerospace Technical Support team, he’s part of an elite corps of field service engineers available 24-7, 365 through the MyAerospace portal or technical support hotline (855-808-6500 in the U.S. or 602-365-6500 internationally).