You are Mariela Quintanilla-Vázquez, 47, VP Quality at Aeropartes Bajío, a tier-1 aerospace MRO outside Querétaro. Eight weeks ago, Eduardo Lemus, a senior structures engineer, filed his third internal "concern" about how the shop is re-certifying composite-stabilizer repairs. The shop director told you it's "engineering theatre."
The situation
Aeropartes Bajío employs 920 people repairing structural composites for regional jets — Embraer 175s, ATR 72s, CRJ 900s. Annual revenue USD 168M, EBITDA margin 11%. The shop holds an FAA Part-145 repair-station certificate and an EASA Part-145 equivalent. Re-certification audit by the FAA is in 11 weeks.
Eighteen months ago, an engineering change request shortened the post-repair non-destructive-test (NDT) sequence on Type-IIIa vertical-stabilizer skins from a two-step ultrasonic-plus-thermographic protocol to a single ultrasonic pass. The change was approved by the previous quality director on cost grounds; production cycle time per part fell 18%, and yield-per-shift improved enough to win a USD 22M renewal with the largest customer. Eduardo Lemus argued at the time that the shortcut was outside the OEM service-bulletin envelope. He was overruled. He filed a "concern" through the formal channel three weeks later. He filed a second one six months ago. Last Thursday he filed a third — this time citing four specific part-serial-numbers he believes were released with sub-surface bond defects that the ultrasonic-only protocol would miss. The shop director, Gerardo Sandoval, has called Eduardo's notes "engineering theatre" in three management meetings. Two other engineers have privately told you they have similar concerns but are "watching what happens to Lalo first."