Landing Gear Technologies was founded with three employees for the marriage of Raúl and Ibis Cruz-Álvarez and their son Rolando Estrada, after graduating from high school. The firm works with all airlines, but its main market is FedEx cargo planes and aircraft made by the US giant Boeing.
The company is certified by the United States Air Transport Regulation Agency (FAA), by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and its work is classified as Level 1.
LGT’s immediate aspiration is to exceed 300 workers to work three shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The great pride
“Something that I say with great pride is that our first client in 2010 is still with us in 2021. We have grown, among other things, because we offer excellent quality and service to those who choose us. Through our work and good references, we have achieved respect and trust in the aeronautical industry ”, says Raúl Cruz-Álvarez, who arrived in the United States with just one year.
“I have been a maintenance technician and have been working in aviation since I was 17 years old. I started repairing landing gears in 1985 and I always say that before being CEO of the company I am a technician, because the main thing is the product that comes out of our company ”.
“We have had many offers to take the company to Texas, North Carolina, Arizona and we all rejected them. We have never wanted to leave Hialeah, the Hialeah community, or South Florida, which we consider to be the mecca of aviation.
Why Hialeah?
“We stayed in Hialeah for two reasons: I came to the US very young and my wife and children were born here. Miami and Hialeah have given us every opportunity in life and now we want to make up for what we have received. Hialeah has given us the possibility to grow even more and reach what we have today. “
After starting in an 8,000-square-foot building and reaching 20 employees they needed to move to a larger one, near the Opa Locka Airport and from there to where they currently are.
The Cruz-Álvarez family is working on the completion of a cleaning, bathing and treatment line for chrome, nickel and other metals. The teams work 24 hours in the different cleaning processes, one of the reasons why they need to increase the staff.
Ibis, Raúl’s wife and also owner of the company, has been an essential letter in the development of Landing Gear Technologies. The confidence with which he expresses himself confirms his role in the direction, cohesion and decisions that they have made over the years for the growth of the family business, where friends of more than 30 years also work.
EMPLOYEE JULIO SOLER LGT SUREIDY RODRIGUEZ / DLA 2021
Julio Soler, LGT employee, with 14 years of experience in the aeronautical industry.
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SUREIDY RODRIGUEZ / DLA
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Landing Gear Technologies new headquarters
“We moved in the middle of the pandemic and it was very difficult, but little by little we overcame every obstacle and made adjustments so as not to lose any employees. Thank God we never closed. It was very complicated, we had to take a lot of measures and be very creative because this is not an industry where you can send employees to work from home. Here they have to do it in the workshop ”, explains the female voice guide of the company.
“We readjusted the work shifts to separate the employees, we rotated the different departments, we reduced hours so that many did not coincide in the same shift. We apply different ideas of sanitary protection in order not to have to do without any employee due to the pandemic or due to changes of premises ”.
Appreciation and job creation
“What I can tell you is that we always had the support of our employees and the backing of the City of Hialeah, something that we greatly appreciate.”
“The Hialeah City Council has been crucial to us in processing the permits. We don’t have a single complaint ”.
After supporting what his wife says, Raúl points out that “on several occasions at 7:30 at night employees of the so-called Ciudad que Progresa -from different departments- answered emails to expedite the approval of permits and licenses. They have behaved exceptionally and given us incredible support. “
“Right now we have many open job positions and with this we want to return part of the enormous gratitude and commitment we have with our community. And the best way is to create high-paying jobs for people who want to improve and even learn in the aviation industry. In most cases, we give the training sessions ourselves, ”says Ibis.
“A basic knowledge of mechanics, discipline, seriousness and a lot of responsibility are enough elements to start working with us in this wonderful and fascinating world of aviation.”
“Many people believe that aviation is just being a pilot or working in airports, and it is not like that.. The aviation industry offers many job alternatives: from engineer to salesperson, parts inspector, technicians. Now we work on programs with schools so that young people not only know the number of offers, but also the types of jobs that exist in this industry ”.
Landing Gear Technologies specializes in landing gear, however, Rolando – the youngest of the management team – reports that they also “process other products and accessories that relate to damping. Every 10 years, this vital part of the aircraft requires total maintenance, a process that takes between 40 and 90 days depending on the type of aircraft and the repair it takes.
Regarding whether they plan to become manufacturers in the future, the young man and his father ruled out that possibility for now, but clarified that the repair is more complex than the manufacture, because two trains – even if they are from the same airline – that require are never received. same arrangement.
LGT EMPLOYEE AND TRAIN Sureidy Rodríguez / DLA 2021
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Two employees work on the completion of a landing gear
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Sureidy Rodríguez / DLA
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Legacy of Success in the Aviation Industry
Landing Gear Technologies in just 12 years has achieved the cohesion of its staff for its accelerated growth in a very demanding, competitive and high-tech industry, but what is most striking is that its spirit is focused on human capacity and talent. and not in robotics, where the aeronautical industry is heading today in a world dominated by the advancement of technology.
Julio Soler, one of the employees, was a turner in Cuba at a sugar mill. Upon arriving in the United States, he entered the world of aviation. He now has 14 years of experience, much of it with LGT. “For me this company is the best. Now I train a cousin of mine. Raúl and his family have given us this great opportunity and we have been able to move forward. I feel very good working here ”.
Proud and grateful to Hialeah, The Cruz-Álvarez family is the protagonist of history and is heading towards a legacy of family success and renown in American aeronautics.
“It is very encouraging,” Raúl reflects, “to see the story of how we got here and now to carry out Landing Gear Technologies operations in 130,000 square feet, with more than 100 employees and our happy customers, but the sacrifices we have made are the most outstanding because It has not only belonged to the three of us, but to the whole family; the sleepless nights, the days devoted entirely to business; knowing that we have to pay the payroll without having received the money from the clients and for us the payment of our employees is sacred. Getting here has meant a high share of responsibility and commitment ”… The future? Grow even more.
