Mark Astley wrote:

As hokey as it sounds, my first criteria is the condition of the shop floor.
The shop which does my work has two hangars both with pristine white floors.
The shops I didn't choose have dirty unpainted floors. I believe there's a
correlation between clean/neat facilities and competent work, but maybe I'm
just fooling myself.

You are fooling yourself. This sounds more like a personal comfort issue.
There is an FBO with a fairly large Maintenance shop with pristine
floors and a lousy reputation. They look good but there quality of
service is lousy. They are also the most expensive in the area. Guess
that must be the time they spend cleaning the floor.

An A&P I used to work for could not keep the place clean if they wanted
to. THey were too busy fixing airplanes.
When the airport had issues after 9/11, the Shop moved outside the ADIZ
and many of the based aircraft went with the shop. Now that's loyalty!
Michelle

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Michelle P ATP-ASEL, CP-AMEL, and AMT-A&P

"Elisabeth" a Maule M-7-235B (no two are alike)

Volunteer Pilot, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer Builder, Habitat for Humanity