JOE AGUIRRE 1963 - 1986 AIRCRAFT MECHANIC, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT, FOREMAN-LINE MAINTENANCE, SERVICE ENGINEER, MANAGER-MAINTENANCE CONTROL DEN My name is F. "Joe" Aguirre. I started with Frontier as a mechanic on Heavy Check. I was involved in an auto accident and ran out of sick leave. Frontier was good enough to give me job as Technical Assistant. I could only use my right as my left arm was in a cast. After some time I was giving the position of Foreman, Line Maintenance. And down the road a ways I was promoted to General Foreman. Line Maintenance. Again I ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in my lung. Lots of hurt on that one. When I returned they placed me in a position of Service Engineer. This was the start of Maintenance Control Center. My title was changed to Technical Specialist. Just before the shut down, All of us in Maintenance Control Center were given the title of Manager On Duty, Maintenance Control Center. During my 23 years with Frontier I met some of the most wonderful people who walked this earth. If I didn't personally, I had the chance to talk to them on the phone during my time in Maintenance Control Center. We were located with Dispatch in the new hangar. One phone call I thought was really funny. One of the mechanics from Great Falls, Montana, (GTF) was on the phone with me. I could hear him sniff every once in awhile. I asked him how cold it was there, he says "54 below," Just then he says "Hold on, we have to go get one of guy's, he's stuck to the ramp!" HUH? "Neah, I was just kidding you." He says. I could just picture two guys pulling on this guy froze to the ramp. It do get cold in that neck of the woods. -Joe Aguirre (5/18/07) I was with FAL a couple of time. First time was for about 9 months. I had been fired from WAL acct of a wild cat Flight Engineer strike. They fired 123 of us. So I got hired by FAL the first time as A&E mechanic about 7 month after the strike. I had a chance to go fly with a cargo outfit so I went with them for a year. Mama didn't like me being away from home all the time. I had to commute from Littleton, CO to Middletown, PA. So FAL hired me back only if I wouldn't fly the coop again. I didn't. I was with them for 23 years. Held a lot of different positions in Maintenance. When the doors were closed I was on duty at Maintenance Control Center. A guard came up and escort me out the front door. During those 23 years I met and worked with the finest group of people in my 42 year career in the airline business. Hope everyone is enjoying a good life as possible. -Joe Aguirre (3/25/10) I arrived here 4-28-14 with heart problems. They had me wear a heart monitor overnight Thursday. On Monday I went to their office and had a conference with Practitional Nurse, All bad stuff. First question was if I had anyone bring me. Next I was not to drive. Next I was to go to the hospital. I called my daughter and her and her husband took me to Swedish Hospital. Like always, hurry up and wait. They finally gave me a EKG and installed me in a room with all kind of tubes in my arm. Something new, they wrap my lower legs with some dohickie that inflates and de-flates every 22 seconds. Prevent blood clots they say. Can't eat till they do the blood work. Got to eat at 09:00PM. Next day I was suppose to ger an anagram at 01:00PM. They never showed up till 02:40PM. They got done about 04:30. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Results, clogged artery, bad aorta valve and heart skips a beat and irregular. Today the Doctors say I'll get a by-pass, a new valve and a pace maker. surgery tomorrow or next day. 5 day recovery period. I'll let you know as things progress. A little prayer is welcome. God bless you all. -Joe Aguirre (5/1/14) FLacebook Post I like that FOD sign. Those Pratt & Whitney engines liked people. I have a story to tell you about our neighbors, Canadians, up north. This happened while the late Ken Schultz was on duty at Maintenance Control Center on midnight shift. The aircraft had departed Regina. The station agent called dispatch and the dispatcher got Ken on the phone. It so happened that one of the agents got sucked into the right engine. The other guys were able to pull him out. When the guy, who got sucked into the engine, went to gaet his keys for his car, he couldnt find them. By then the aircraft was ready to land at Saskatoon. Dispatch called Saskatoon and told the agent there they wanted to talk to the pilots. The pilots called and everybody had a phone in their ear. Operations. Manager asked the Captain what had occurred at Regina. He answered, nothing out of the ordinary. Then the F/O piped that he had seen a lot of commotion. He said the Agent on the radio said, "that was a close one, yeah?" F/O didn't know what the guy was talking about and said yeah too. So now where did the keys go. Yup, Ken got some Canadian techs to inspect the engine and found them in little balls way back of the compressor. So now we have to truck an engine to Saskatoon. -Joe Aguirre (8/14/19) I've had bad things happen. My daughter passed away the 22nd of this month. She had a tumor removed from her brain, back in Aug. It was malignant. She had radiation treatments to get the cancer that was left. It didn't help. On her 4th seizure she passed away. She was 69 years old. The first seizure left her with her left arm and leg useless. She loved working in her yard. That would be one thing she would never be able to do again. -Joe Aguirre (11/27/19) F AGUIRE DEN svs engineer Emp# 00196 DOB 10/10/28 <8 must be typo on year> DOH 7/2/63 Per the Dec 1970 Frontier employees roster. F AGUIRRE M DOB 10/10/26 DOH 7/2/63 Per the Dec 1984 pension records. -Jake Lamkins (11/29/19) Facebook Fidel Aguirre April 1, 1945 The last chapter of the Japanese Empire. The invasion of Okinawa. War ended August 15, 1945. Landed on Okinawa with no enemy resistance at a place called Gushikawa. All Japanese armed forces had moved to the southern part of the island. Their capital city Naha followed in size by Shuri, were south of where we landed. By war's end they were leveled. I was with the 20th Naval Construction Battalion. Better known as SeaBees. By dark we had our camp set up. Tents, chow hall and showers. Showers aboard LST's weren't all that accompanied. Next night the Japanese bombers came over the island and dropped bombs haphazardly most of the night. You might say that put us on notice we were at war. Jake Lamkins Thank you for your service, Joe! How old were you then? Fidel Aguirre I was 18 years old and like the saying goes, 8 foot tall and bullet proof. (Lucky if I was 5'7" and weighed in @130 lbs.) (4/2/20) Fidel Aguirre Facebook post with his 1958 pic: The prime of my career. From emptying the honey bucket to Flight Engineer. Learned how to fly under the GI bill and burning the mid-night candle I got my Aircraft & Power-plant license. Then I went after my F/E license. It was one hellva of journey. I owe thanks to a lot of people. They answered what I thought was a lot of dumb questions. Now I'm meeting some beautiful and wonderful people. I love you all and may God Bless you all. (Year of picture 1958) (4/2/20) Fidel Aguirre post on death of Carl Willman Sorry to hear that. Yes, I met Carl way back in 1946. He, Leonard Stewart., Kenny Holmes went to work for Monarch. I ended working for Frontier Oct 1963. Then came Sept. 1986. What a revolting situation, especially for the "Old Timers." Went to work for CAL here in DEN. Oct. 1986. Lead Tech installing Emer. Exit lighting. 1 A/C a night. It was a job. (6/25/20) Joe Aguirre I started 10/1/1946. As Service Fleet Servcieman (cleaner.) In DEN with Western. Went thru 4 different airlines. A&E mechanic, F/E, TechAsst. Line Maintenance Foreman, General Foreman, Maintenance Control, Mgr. Maintenance Contrl. A&E. 43 years. What a ride! (8/26/21) FLacebook Fidel Aguirre JN you still around? F. "Joe" Aguirre here, from Maintenance Control Center. 94 and not doing well. Sorry to say a couple of my buddies I worked with have passed on. Ken Schultz and John Kosmiki. A few years back. Where did you go after FAL shut the door. I spent the last two years before I retired at CAL. (9/7/21) Jasper Tyler Hey Joe..so glad to hear from you..sorry you not doing so well..I worked at AA for 27 years after Frontier.. now living near Knoxville, Tenn..retired..I wish you the very best Joe..stay well (9/9/21) Fidel Aguirre Glad to hear you weathered the storm. 27 years AA. Heck, that's another book you might say. Believe it or not I was one of last to leave the hangar. When I got there, the parking lot gate was blocked with a tug. A guy handed me a letter. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I had left at 11:00pm just hours ago and I hadn't heard nothing. The guy (a Guard) said you better read that. It said, "Return home and call this number. Frontier Airlines has ceased operation." Huh? I seen a bunch of guys at hangar on the west side. They were mechanics and ticked. I called our work place and Ken Schultz answered the phone. He said they'll issue you a red tag to come up to our office, As went out I told the guys. "Esta la vista, Amigos, Adios." Ken took me to a window where you could see the terminal gates. They were removing non-FAL equipment (commissary) out of the airplane. Some mechanics (not FAL) were removing an engine off an MD 80, that was on lease. Ken told me to stay till I was told to leave. I asked who would it be, he said he didn't know. Great. So there I was with nobody but men in dispatch and crew scheduling office. It sure as hell brought a tear to my eye when thought of all the people I met there. Not being able to wishing them a farewell the way you do a friend. Finally about 11:00 AM a guard came up and ask me by name. Said it was time to leave. That I would be the last one, the rest of the red tags had been collected. Yeah, sure. big deal. 23 years. One hell of ride. Like I said before, met a heck of a lot nice human beings Very happy to hear from you JN. (9/9/21) Happy 95th Birthday, Joe! JOE AGUIRRE 1963 - 1986 AIRCRAFT MECHANIC, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT, FOREMAN-LINE MAINTENANCE, SERVICE ENGINEER, MANAGER-MAINTENANCE CONTROL DEN https://www.facebook.com/fidel.aguirre.12327fidelaguirrefidelaguirre -Jake Lamkins (10/29/21) HAD NOT HEARD FROM HIM IN AWHILE AND CHECKED HIS FACEBOOK PAGE AT https://www.facebook.com/fidel.aguirre.12327fidelaguirrefidelaguirre and found out he flew west Dec 26, 2021. Paula Aguirre Dec 13, 2021 Fidel Aguirre is in the hospital. He fell and chipped bone in his pelvis. He will stay there for a few days but most likely be transferred to the Veterans Hospital in-patient care. He is using FB messenger if you want to communicate with him. If you want to call him message me for his cell number. Keep him in your prayers. Thank you Paula Aguirre Dec 27, 2021 To all of Joe Aguirre friends and Family. He passed away Dec 26th in his sleep. We are making arrangements for his veteran military burial. With Covid it may be delayed. We will keep everyone posted here. Joseph Crider I’m so sorry to hear of his passing.we worked together at Frontier. I was a mechanic and he was in maintenance control and we had been friends on messenger for several years Adella Schulz We are so sorry to hear that. He was a good friend and someone I worked with at Frontier. Our heartfelt sympathy to you all. Stu Hammersmark Oh my goodnes. I'm so moved by his passing. Fidel was such a remarkable person. God bless the family. Bill Buse Very sad news to hear. Trish Swanson-Hawk Prayers for his family and many friends; RIP. Pam Coffman Ellis Prayers for his family and friends Fred Watson R.I.P..Joe Bill Guthrie Very sad news. He was a good friend for many years. Bonnie Dahl Bless you Joe Lisa Kerr Zeman Prayers Jack McLaughlin When we were mechanics together Joe encouraged me to go for a Flight Engineer position when Frontier got 727s. It was wonderful advice! (3/14/22) Paula Aguirre Dec 31, 2021 Update: Jacob & I have decided on June 3rd 2022 @ 2:15 for Fidel’s burial at Ft Logan military cemetery. I'll be working on his obituary which will be posted at Aspen Mortuary. Hopefully his extended family and friends can make arrangements for early Summer. With Covid and other things going on and the not so great cold weather we think it works better for everyone. It's been confirmed. Please arrive @2:00 to be seated Military burial ceremony is first. Then 5 minutes for eulogy. If anyone is interested in his eulogy let me know. aspenmortuaries.com (303) 232-0985 FLacebook Another FLight West Reported JOE AGUIRRE 1963 - 1986 AIRCRAFT MECHANIC, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT, FOREMAN-LINE MAINTENANCE, SERVICE ENGINEER, MANAGER-MAINTENANCE CONTROL DEN Info is at Joe's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fidel.aguirre.12327fidelaguirrefidelaguirre -Jake Lamkins (3/11/22) F AGUIRRE Aircraft mechanic retained seniority 2 yrs 3 mos 29 days Per the May 1986 FL/IAM Seniority List. Could not find an obituary for Joe. -Jake Lamkins (3/19/22) FLacebook Frontier Memorial Webpage Posted JOE AGUIRRE 1963 - 1986 AIRCRAFT MECHANIC, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT, FOREMAN-LINE MAINTENANCE, SERVICE ENGINEER, MANAGER-MAINTENANCE CONTROL DEN http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Joe_Aguirre.html Still looking for an obituary for him. Post your remembrances of him. -Jake Lamkins (3/21/22) Posted at Joe's's Facebook page. All of Joe's many friends at the old Frontier Airlines are saddened to hear of his passing. Our condolences to his family. Still looking for an obituary for him. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Joe_Aguirre.html -Jake Lamkins (3/21/22)