Doug Bohac - Duncan Aviation | Manager, Paint Operations

Doug Bohac is the manager of paint operations for Duncan Aviation in Lincoln, NE. I met Bohac at Duncan Aviation’s new hangar open house in July. I sat down with him to learn about his career and discuss paint-related issues that we could share with our readers.

Growing up, Bohac always had a passion for cars, so when he graduated from high school he enrolled at Southeast Community College (SCC) in its auto body program.

Bohac landed a job in an auto body shop in Wahoo after graduation. During that time, he had his eyes on another job — working at Duncan Aviation. “I thought that aviation, the Lear and Citation jets at the time and the paint jobs they had, was interesting,” he shares.

Although Duncan Aviation wasn’t hiring when he graduated from school, he submitted an application. A year and a half later, he started working there  in the media blast shop.

Bohac moved up in the paint department, from sander to prepper, to paint crew. After around six years, he became a team leader. He had ten guys on his team. He was one of three team leaders. They were responsible for managing their teams to ensure aircraft paint schedules were met. His team would sometimes work from 5:00 a.m. to midnight to get a job time. “By doing that, we controlled the quality and the rework and downtime better,” he says. “We didn’t have to depend on anybody else.”

We asked Bohac how he got his team to buy into working the long hours necessary to get a job done. “I guess it was leading by example,” he says. “If I asked guys to stay, they would stay – and I would stay and work right alongside them. I earned their respect.”

Bohac shares that the work ethic he and his team had back then isn’t necessarily common these days. “That may make some of us older guys upset,” he says. “But we need to figure out ways to incorporate that attitude into our system if we want to continue to grow.”

“This isn’t just a problem here at Duncan Aviation,” he continues. “I keep in touch with a lot of my competitors, and they are also having a tough time finding good employees.”

Bohac has tried a different approach to find new employees for his paint shop. “I have hired guys off the street with absolutely no paint experience,” he shares. “I put them with one of our teams, and the team members train and mentor them. It has had about a 50 percent success rate. We work with the successful ones and mold them into our culture.”

Bohac has also developed relationships with local trade schools including SCC and Hastings Community College. He wants to join the board of advisors for SCC. “By developing relationships with the schools, I’m hoping to be able to get first-hand knowledge and work with them to get the cream of the crop of graduates,” he says. “We’ve done some job fairs with the schools as well to give Duncan some exposure to the students.”

We asked Bohac what he looks for in potential employees. “For the most part, we look for people who want to work in our culture who are honest, hard working and have some paint knowledge background,” he says. “And they need to have the drive. We do take people with positive attitudes and no paint experience if the timing is right. Sometimes we need someone to hit the ground running. Sometimes we have the time to train them. It’s different for each position.”

Bohac also relies on his current employees for employee referrals. “I like to ask our guys if they know of anybody who might be a good fit for us,” Bohac says. “I’ll go visit with the people they recommend. I also bring them in and show them what Duncan Aviation is about.”

We asked Bohac if there are any challenges bringing people over from working in auto body shops and training them to work on aircraft. “Yes,” he says. “When you work on aircraft, they are wavy. When you work on cars, they look like glass. Sometimes those guys need to figure out how we do things. We don’t block sand, we DA [dual action] sand. Sometimes on cars, you might be on a project for two or three months. It takes us two weeks to complete an aircraft. It sometimes takes a year for those guys to make that transition.”

Custom bikes

Bohac is a passionate painter. Harley Davidson motorcycles are also his passion. He has combined his two passions to create custom bikes. “I build custom bikes on the side and do a lot of custom paint jobs on Harley Davidsons,” he shares. “I do a few bike projects a year. When you look at aviation, it is go, go, go. It is a lot of responsibility. People sometimes ask, ‘Why would you want to go home and paint after hours?’ Sometimes its nice when I just have to worry about Doug Bohac. I don’t have to worry about anything else. It’s my wind-down time.”

Chrome-free paint

Corrosion is a big issue in our industry. With increased regulation on chromates, paint manufacturers have been introducing chrome-free products, and Bohac has been one of the leaders in the industry working with different manufacturers as they introduce alternative chrome-free paint processes for aircraft. “We have over 400 airplanes with chrome-free paint out there,” he says.

Amidst the transition to chrome-free paint, some painters are kicking and screaming saying that the paint quality won’t be the same. Bohac shares his thoughts on the subject. “It’s no different than years ago when they took lead out of paint,” he says. “Everyone was worried that the paint was not going to be any good. Well – here we are today. We have been using chrome in paint for years, yet we still have a lot of corrosion.

”Removing chrome from paint is all about safety,” he continues. “In the end, I want to protect our guys and make sure they are safe.”

Networking

Although the glamour of working on jets attracted him to getting a job at Duncan Aviation, Bohac says there is another aspect of the job he enjoys in his current management position. “The fun part is meeting customers and building relationships,” he says. “I am fortunate in my current job. I travel quite a bit to see customers. I am able to network with many people.”

Bohac has been coordinating with his network of fellow paint managers to start a peer-to-peer think tank. Shortly before the NBAA2014 convention, he and Duncan Aviation are hosting what they are calling an Industry Benchmark Forum: Aircraft Paint. A group of paint managers from across the industry will meet for the one-day event. “I want us to meet twice a year to discuss important issues such as corrosion, which products are working and which are not, safety regulations, where to find future employees and things like that,” he tells D.O.M.magazine. “I have already built some great relationships since starting this effort. We are competitors, but we are in this together. We have become friends.”