Endeavor Base Spotlight: CWA

Right outside Mosinee, Wisc., and next to the Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) is a two-story Endeavor Air maintenance hangar. CWA currently has 45 employees and houses 2 aircraft each night – one for maintenance and one for an interior modification refresh. This small-town base is filled with knowledge and passion, and while small in numbers, is home to a strong representation of talent and Endeavor’s culture.

“We take a lot of pride in working at CWA,” said Base Manager Lee Pastika. “We want to be a viable base for Endeavor Air, so we continuously train, ask for more work, and are always striving to improve our capabilities.”

“When it comes to a new hire, they receive a great deal of focus from the team,” Lee continued. “We take the time to train them and pass on the experience of the base. Hopefully, our technicians will stay at CWA to develop as they start their career. If they choose to move to a mainline, we want to send them off with a great foundation, so they can think back on where they started.”

The base has multiple individuals with experience ranging from 25 to 35 years – four technicians are reaching 27 years of working with Endeavor this month. “As long as I can get this team what they need, there is nothing they can’t accomplish,” Lee said. “Some of these guys were hired right out of A&P school and have wanted to stay here their whole career.”

“Both this team and Endeavor have the same mindset – improve every day and be the best regional airline,” said Lee. “It’s great leading a smaller team. You know everyone on such a personal level. A lot of people here, we’re growing old together.”

LIVING IN A SMALLER COMMUNITY

“The number one reason why most people stay at CWA is because they love the people here at Endeavor,” Lee said. “The second reason is they like living in a smaller community.”

“CWA is a great area if someone is looking for a smaller town,” Lee continued. “The team puts in a lot of effort to make sure a new hire is involved in things outside of work like joining in on fishing and biking trips or joining town boards.”

For those that did not grow up calling central Wisconsin home, the base maintains a wall in the hangar that has flags from all the states or countries the technicians hail from.

“We want each person to have pride in the facility, and I want our technicians to feel like they are represented to the fullest when they work here,” said Lee. “Even when the technician leaves, their flag will stay up.”

Endeavor’s maintenance bases function slightly differently in their work and capabilities. Some are line maintenance only; others take on modifications or special projects in addition to their maintenance tasks. These are a few capabilities that make Central Wisconsin unique.

SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE

CWA handles regularly scheduled maintenance across two shifts, first and third, that includes working on borescopes and fan blade checks. The base will also accomplish line checks and A-checks when aircraft reach the 800-hour threshold.

SPECIAL VISIT LINE (SVL)

CWA primarily handled CRJ-200 maintenance before Endeavor Air retired the aircraft in May 2023. After this, CWA was tasked with accomplishing special projects like the interior refresh of 36 XJ aircraft.

The interior refresh included major adjustments like updated seats and adding seat power into all rows. Other modifications included enhanced exit signs, upgraded lights, changes in the lavatories, and a new carpet.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Every spring and fall in coordination with the airport, local high school students are welcomed into the CWA hangar for a base tour. Each school receives their own private tour of the base.

“A lot of kids aren’t aware of aviation maintenance as a career path, so it’s really fulfilling when you see that lightbulb moment on their face as they realize this is a possibility for a future,” Lee said.

Every year, the base tries to participate in some sort of golf outing to help support a different organization. Most recently, CWA participated in an event that supported Neighbors’ Place – a non-profit focused on providing food, necessities, and education to Marathon County and Northcentral Wisc.