Send him or her up to the gate lounge when there is a mechanical delay to explain exactly what is wrong and what careful, safety-oriented steps are being taken to fix it. Let the mechanic first announce the situation on the P.A. system, then turn him or her loose to answer any questions from curious passengers. This would do wonders for the airline's image and it would greatly ease passenger concerns, to know that such a great team of technicians was doing everything possible to make their airplane safe. Airline passengers' sole contact with maintenance personnel is through some of the excellent TV and magazine ads that airlines occasionally trot out. They really have no idea who it is that works on the airplanes, how much training they've had, and how dedicated they are to safety.
Safety is our business.
It can't hurt to let us mechanics help passengers feel more comfortable about strapping their bodies into an aluminum tube that is about to hurtle them six miles high at more than 500 miles per hour. Airlines should take advantage of the public relations benefits of their maintenance crews. It can't help but make people feel better about what goes on the next time there is a delay. This is such a great idea, I wonder why the mechanics' unions haven't made it part of their contracts. Mechanics complain they don't get as much respect and money as pilots.