Boston mechanic Gets CDD for ground damage

[blue collar]

But blow a slide, and it's 5 days off, no questions asked.

That's good to know, if you've got a vacation coming up and the book is full! Haha

 

[Chuck Schalk]

welcome to the new american airlines, the company that the unions pushed for

 

[AA-MRO.COM]

Seems the step process is out the window they do what they want now.

 

[OgieJFK]

Thanks for the definition.
 
Here at US in PIT, it kinda always depended on who you were.

On the ramp at AA in JFK it was the same way.

 

[700UW]

Thanks for the definition.
 
Here at US in PIT, it kinda always depended on who you were.
 
We've had guys tag many a tip, put jacks through the belly and nothing was ever said.
 
Then we had someone forget to chock, the plane rolled, he was fired after a hearing.
 
He finally got back, but was placed under what US calls a "drop dead letter" for an amount of time the company sees fit.
 
But blow a slide, and it's 5 days off, no questions asked.

CLT Grievance Committee has been able to get those five down to three.

 

[eolesen]

CDD's and the whole step process have been around forever, at least since the mid 1980's.

Normal escalation would be counseling, more counseling, a first step, second step, career decision day and then termination. Five opportunities to get your act together. For gross misconduct or a serious mistake, you can go right to a first or second step depending on the circumstances. I've never heard of going straight to a CDD without extenuating circumstances.
 

To go right to a CDD is ridiculous. The perfect world mentality at this place is astonishing. Every time you move an aircraft there is always the possibility of an accident.

Agree, but what else was going on here?

If he was willfully operating a piece of equipment he knew he wasn't checked out on, that by itself could have been a first or second step regardless of the resulting damage. That's a inviolable rule -- if you're not authorized, you don't do it.

If there were other violations of safety procedures (e.g. pushing back without a wing walker) then the combination of negligence and damage might warrant going straight to a CDD.


All that said, most people don't really screw up on the scale to warrant PPC twice, and from what I recall, far more step advisories aged off as opposed to being escalated to the next step.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

The only people who get in trouble around here are the ones doing the work I guess your better off doing as little as possible so as not to lose your job.

Now you are getting it. Today's UNIONS love inefficiency. The more people it takes to do a job the more dues they can stick in their pocket. 
 
In a UNION like TWU you are punished for being a good worker. That is by design. 
 
Sounds like you are getting smarter.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

If he was willfully operating a piece of equipment he knew he wasn't checked out on, that by itself could have been a first or second step regardless of the resulting damage. That's a inviolable rule -- if you're not authorized, you don't do it.

This is the first time I have flat out disagreed with you eolesen.
 
I do not want to go into too much detail on open forums but I will say you are so off the mark it is not even funny. 
 
 

No, what gives the union a bad name is if this was that individuals first incident and allowing the company to issue a CDD. We use to have a step process...

The step process is too lenient. The step process is what allows the TWU to keep the incompetent on payroll.  Dislike what I say all you want but you know it is true.

 

[1AA]

Now you are getting it. Today's UNIONS love inefficiency. The more people it takes to do a job the more dues they can stick in their pocket. 
 
In a UNION like TWU you are punished for being a good worker. That is by design. 
 
Sounds like you are getting smarter.

This is not true but the perception at the work place backs up you claim.

 

[OgieJFK]

CDD's and the whole step process have been around forever, at least since the mid 1980's.

Normal escalation would be counseling, more counseling, a first step, second step, career decision day and then termination. Five opportunities to get your act together. For gross misconduct or a serious mistake, you can go right to a first or second step depending on the circumstances. I've never heard of going straight to a CDD without extenuating circumstances.

We seemed to have worked at two vastly different company's. In my experiences it had always came down to if management liked you.  The local TWU had some input too...but lets not BS here they were and are paper tigers. I'll give you three real life examples and you tell me which should have been a CDD...

A) A guy thats been thru the program twice gets himself and another employee injured cause he decided to use an out of service tug and was "racing" another employee back to the break room. He decided to drive behind an aircraft that was taxing in. The jet wash lifted the hood and hit both employees. The driver got a concussion and the passenger was paralyzed from the neck down. What saved the driver was the steering wheel.

B ) A FSC that drove the employee bus ran over and killed a person in the hanger parking lot. This person had numerous accidents with AA owned vehicles. Off the top of my head he ran over the aircrafts fuelers line and caused a big fuel spill and drove away with the crap trucks hose still connected to the plane.

C) A FSC with no accidents, IODs, great attendance... this FSC leaves his freight on the gate and puts the tow bar into the locked position. Unbeknown to the FSC was that tho the tow bar went into the brake position the brakes were worn and never engaged. Another employee bumped into the string and it hit the plane.

Out of these three incidents whom do you think was up for a CDD?

 

[Kev3188]

I'm not sure if in the long run it really works or if you create people who are too afraid that will get canned and so become timid.

When you have mgmt. going from zero-to-one hundred, this is exactly what happens.

Do you two think this policy works at making people more careful - at any airline?

See above. What really works is a legitimate safety (and training) program, a thorough/unbiased investigation of any incident(s) to find all the causal factors, and putting any lessons learned into effect.

Of course, that takes actual effort. Why work for commitment when you can just terrify people into compliance?

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

B ) A FSC that drove the employee bus ran over and killed a person in the hanger parking lot. This person had numerous accidents with AA owned vehicles. Off the top of my head he ran over the aircrafts fuelers line and caused a big fuel spill and drove away with the crap trucks hose still connected to the plane.

 
This is a another prime example of why the seniority system does not work.
 
You have an unsafe driver holding a bus driver position. What is his major qualification? Surprise surprise.... it's...... seniority. 
 
When are you people going to learn (or admit) that putting someone in a position they either don't have the aptitude for (the job is outside of their technical/leadership capabilities) or competency for is a bad idea. 
 
In this instance it got someone killed.
 
What is it going to take?
 
You guys seriously need some kind of measure to remove failures out of these positions. Your hire date should not qualify you to lead others or put you in a position to harm others when you clearly do not have the tools to do the job.

 

[OgieJFK]

 
This is a another prime example of why the seniority system does not work.
 
You have an unsafe driver holding a bus driver position. What is his major qualification? Surprise surprise.... it's...... seniority. 
 
When are you people going to learn (or admit) that putting someone in a position they either don't have the aptitude for (the job is outside of their technical/leadership capabilities) or competency for is a bad idea. 
 
In this instance it got someone killed.
 
What is it going to take?
 
You guys seriously need some kind of measure to remove failures out of these positions. Your hire date should not qualify you to lead others or put you in a position to harm others when you clearly do not have the tools to do the job.

None of these incidents had anything to do with the seniority system. The guy from B was the bottom guy as a bus driver and the crap truck and had little time when this happened.  I know you're on an anti-union tirade but where in the blue hell did I mention seniority ? How you can read my post and come away with a seniority rant is beyond me. The fact of the matter is the union really had nothing to do with ANY of these cases. Management loved the guy cause he was another anti-union worker that slaved at AA. By anti-union I mean he did whatever the boss told him to do. If it involved violating the contract, using unsafe equipment, working unsafe, ect they didn't discipline him cause he was a classic kiss ass. So why discipline a guy who is on managements good side.

 

[AANOTOK]

 
This is a another prime example of why the seniority system does not work.
 
You have an unsafe driver holding a bus driver position. What is his major qualification? Surprise surprise.... it's...... seniority. 
 
When are you people going to learn (or admit) that putting someone in a position they either don't have the aptitude for (the job is outside of their technical/leadership capabilities) or competency for is a bad idea. 
 
In this instance it got someone killed.
 
What is it going to take?
 
You guys seriously need some kind of measure to remove failures out of these positions. Your hire date should not qualify you to lead others or put you in a position to harm others when you clearly do not have the tools to do the job.

With comments like that, your credibility is slowly deteriorating. Now that you're out of the industry, you feel it's ok to take pot shots, especially at something (seniority) which is one of the few things we have left and something that has worked fine way before you were here and will continue way after you have been gone. I know I know, you still draw money from the industry...I'm sure if you were still here you would complain if a new hire sat in the air conditioned truck and watched you load and unload a 757 belly in Dallas on a 105 degree day.

 

[Flying low]

Heard today that a mechanic in Boston got a CDD after pushing a plane out of the hanger and damaging the wing tip. Investigation results claim he was not trained on the tractor he was driving.
Check your MQ* and make sure whatever you operate is in your training if not walk.
The new American Airlines is here.

My question is, if the mechanic was not trained on the tractor, then what was he doing on it?