Juan Aguilar’s New Flyer Journey Reflects the American Dream

In this profile, COMTO highlights Juan Aguilar’s 19-year career journey with New Flyer and get his thoughts on Hispanic Heritage Month.

Juan Aguilar, 38, has been a New Flyer Team Lead since 2015. He has been an employee since 2001, ascending the ranks from Assembly B to Assembly A to Utility Lead Person and now Team Lead. As a Team Lead, Juan helps ensure quality of product and helps to add sidewall panels, PLC, side consoles and instrument panels on New Flyer buses. Juan is Mexican American and is a California native. His parents emigrated from Guadalajara and San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. He hopes to continue working for New Flyer during the coming years and hopes to continue growing within the company. Read More about Juan’s time at New Flyer here.

Juan Aguilar has been part of the New Flyer family since 2001, then known as North American Bus Industries (NABI). NABI was acquired by New Flyer in 2013. Over the last 19 years, Juan has excelled in different departments, different roles and titles at the Anniston, Alabama facility. At 38 years old, Juan began his career at New Flyer as an entry level production employee. From there, he moved up the ranks to skilled assembler, then utility. After a couple of years as utility, he was promoted to Lead Person and finally to Team Lead in a Production Cell.

Juan has a “can do / will do” attitude. As Juan demonstrates this work ethic and positive attitude, his surrounding employees follow his lead. He treats his entire New Flyer family with respect, which has earned him great admiration at New Flyer, and as a result his Production Cell is one of the top performing cells in Anniston. Juan and his Cell Leader give clear direction and guidance to their team, which allows the Production Cell to achieve its daily and weekly goals.

Juan’s drive to complete tasks on time, with safety and quality at the forefront, is the reason why Juan is assigned to special projects at New Flyer. These special projects, which are often not assigned to many, are critical to the success of the company.

One of Juan’s proudest achievements was to help with the onboarding of a new hire of Puerto Rican descent. Juan taught him how to read prints. This is one of many instances where Juan has stepped up to help employees gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed at New Flyer.

“To me, Hispanic Heritage Month means reflecting on the hard work, the hard labor, and the pride of past generations. It’s a time where you remember where you came from and acknowledge the sacrifices your family has made to give you a better life. As a New Flyer Team Lead since 2015, I have the opportunity to continue growing within the company and take pride in ascending the ranks—it is my piece of the American dream,” said Juan.

In addition, Juan has many safety and operational certifications, including a first responder for safety certification, forklift license certification, torque trainer certification, crane certification and bus driver certification.

Juan is very active in CrossFit Training. This is one of his passions that he enjoys outside of New Flyer in the community. He was active in soccer until a knee injury occurred, but continues to watch Major League Soccer.

View Original Article