Company Happy With 1st Airbus.

[2BorNot2B]

OK Guys! ... take the ball and run with it. Use your IAM Union to expose these failings to the traveling public. Get the Pax to understand the REAL reason why there is so much Employee concern about what is happening at U. Right now the perception is "you" are just a bunch of whinning overpaid Airline employees! That is something I had to fight for all my years. Get the Unions to help you in these battles .. a complacent and mis-informed public is the biggest obsticle right now. You have no one on your side except yourselves .. and even at that ... there are divisions. The traveling public is becoming more and more leary of making advanced bookings as the media reports daily about the negative Union attitudes. So the Unions are indeed taking the blame in the press for the inevitable failure of U! Does that make sense??? God help us .... NO! RSA gets positive press ... the emplyees get the bad! Why? Because the "Unions" have not made an effort to support their dues paying members .... no PR ... nada! The post by Ag-On-It is indeed a model for the concern of the employees!
Whew!!!

2B

 

[2BorNot2B]

700UW:
I was just kidding about the licensed mechanics working at STS. I agree with you 100%, anyone who has ever been around contract maintenance especially overhaul facilites knows that the majority of mechanics are NOT licensed but their work is bought off buy a licensed mechanic. In many cases if the licensed mechanic is not willing to buy off the work of the unlicensed mechanic, the contractor finds one who will!!! I have been unable to locate the exact percentage of licensed mechanics STS has one the property..........I wonder why the company does not release that info???????

That is a VERY serious accusation, in my mind! Unlicensed mechanics being "payed off" by licensed mechanics to do their work?? That is how I read your post.

Please clarify ....

2b

 

[ktflyhome]

YES!!!!! pLEASE CLARIFY. I agree. I am a F/A who sees mechanicals everyday and sees mels too. This topic is getting pretty scarry. If you guys are just joshling around with your rhetorics, that is one thing, but it is time to have a Come to Jesus Meeting and state the truth. I feel very volnerable at times when I am 35,000 to 40,000 altitude. I have been on planes where there have been umpteen mels. I see them everywhere, but can only put my trust in the Pilots. I realize that some mels or a "go" and some are not according to the manuals and FAA standards. But lets get real, we are talking about safety.

Is this something we should consider taking to 60 Minutes or Hard Ball.

If so lets do it and let the company suffer the humiliation. :angry:

 

[2BorNot2B]

Is this something we should consider taking to 60 Minutes or Hard Ball.

Exactly! If indeed there is truth an fact in all of these allegations ... and indeed the persons making them are willing to go before the press ... then the Unions should make every effort to promote such an effort. I emphicize the Union involvement as these folks need the legal representation and support in order to protect their interests.

2b

 

[AOG-N-IT]

Is this something we should consider taking to 60 Minutes or Hard Ball.

Exactly! If indeed there is truth an fact in all of these allegations ... and indeed the persons making them are willing to go before the press ... then the Unions should make every effort to promote such an effort. I emphicize the Union involvement as these folks need the legal representation and support in order to protect their interests.

2b

Hold the phone here for a minute.

MEL's are legal deferals on items that are deemed non-essential to safe revenued operations.

MEL's (Minimum Equipment List) is an established deferal linked by proof of function by the Manufacturer of the Acft...The Operator of the Acft....and last but not least the FAA whom has certified the Acft's standards,practices and performance specifications.

DO NOT ASSUME an MEL makes your Aircraft any less safe to be on...for any reason !!

Every Acft...Every Airline...Every Operator will use the MEL at somepoint...and it's not at all un-common to see multiple MEL's on any aircraft. The issue is...it's not a Safety of Flight issue....or the Acft would in fact be grounded !!

Acft departing a Heavy Maintence Visit , such as an S-Check in this case...should not be rolling over the hangar tracks with deferals. Doing so says a few things when and if it does happen. It says first and foremost , that the maintenance provider is either ill equipped with the items to make the repairs...or they lack the technical know-how to perform them.

700UW rolling out with deferals from ST Mobile Aerospace was more of a lack of on-hand parts....and more to the point , the desire to get the plane out on time , without penalty for it being late in it's departure.

Unlike third party work...U "In-House" is driven to insure it's right...Not RIGHT now....sure a schedule has to be made...and the desire to make it is there...but it ain't going until it's ready to go in all respects. This should be the one and only concern. Any delays that U Heavy Maintenance may have are linked to multiple factors. Here's a short list for you to digest.

(1) Findings during the Check

(2) The on hand availablity of the items needed to perform the corrective action

(3) The shortage of actual manpower to perform the work.

One thing I've learned about any mechanical item is this. The book is a guidline on how long a given task should take....but one never knows what will be discoverd once an area of a car or aircraft is opened up for work? What's important here is addressing the discrepancies so they do not become problematic or a safety concern.

A "Jack-Leg for example might change your dead battery....but did he check the condition of the battery cables , the battery box for security of the battery...and did he check the the alternator and voltage regulator to insure the entire system is operating at peak performance levels?....a good mechanic would , whom is not only concerned with time oriented issues. Again...Safety should be the motivating factor for all concerned.

 

[2BorNot2B]

Hold the phone here for a minute.

We are not talking about MEL's here ... at least I was not! We are talking about the allegations of unlicensed mechanics working on U aircraft and doing substandard work without proper FAA supervision!

2b

 

[Dea Certe]

This issue is not about losing a paid lunch or few vacation days at US Airways. I said it before and I'll say it again: This is a Moral Imperative for all airline pilots, flight attendants and mechanics who are entrusted with the safety of the flying public. We are the ones who have worked and fought to make flying the safest way to travel. Every airline employee at any airline has to continue to make sure all our aircraft are as safe as they can mechanically be.

Corporate America is not as concerned about safety as we are. Were they, there would be no need for the alphabet soup of government bureacracies that suck up tax dollars from all of us. FAA, FDA, EPA, the list goes on! I wouldn't even venture a guess at the competency levels of any these agencies.

I fully trust the men and women who fly and maintain our aircraft. I have to have that confidence or why should I even put on the uniform of a safety professional? In-house employees are going to have a much more emotional attachment to a job well done. It's the pride of a True Professional that I don't believe you're going to find at Gillian's Airplane and Boat Repair.

Much of what goes on right now is annoying, frustrating and infuriating. There's some room for give and take on other issues, but not on safety. On this, all of us must speak out and stand up for the public who buy tickets on any airline.

I thank all the experienced, talented and skilled professionals who have kept the rest of us from preventable harm.

Dea

 

[AOG-N-IT]

Hold the phone here for a minute.

We are not talking about MEL's here ... at least I was not! We are talking about the allegations of unlicensed mechanics working on U aircraft and doing substandard work without proper FAA supervision!

2b

OK,

1st things first....many companies use un-licensed people to work on Acft. However this is to be under the direct supervision of a person whom holds that license..and assumes responsibility for the quality of that work....not under the supervision of the FAA as you stated. The FAA provides a regulatory function at best.

I myself recieved my sign-offs for my A&P Ticket via a work program Vs. attending a military tech school...or paying for a civilian tech school. If memory serves, I had to spend 18 months working in the Airframe area...and then at least 12 months on the power plant side. The rule if memory serves again was 18 and 18 unless you were in a position to do both at 30 months time....this also requires a sign-off by a licensed mechanic stating that you have performed the tasks , just to be able to start the FAA testing programs noted as Oral and Practical testing.

In some 3rd party cases ..as it's noted in previous posts , You do not get what the spirit and intent of the rules imply at times. A rift is built between some licensed mechanics...and the un-licensed whom is not really there in an vocational/educational pursuit capacity. This linked to very junior licensed mechanics is a knock against such 3rd party vendors.

I will use the B1900 crash in CLT as another example of poor communication, a mechanic lacking technical and procedural grasp of the task at hand as an example of what can go wrong. This is not something you'll see at U or any of the other majors , considering the junior most people average about 14 years with U...and many with multiple years in military aviation prior to that.

 

[marco90821]

You,and others, completely made up the fact that this aircraft received inferior service outsourced. This is not the truth. The plane was serviced fine. Learn the facts, be precise and do not tell lies. I as abrother, will tell you that the outsourcing is top notch!

 

[ClueByFour]

You,and others, completely made up the fact that this aircraft received inferior service outsourced. This is not the truth. The plane was serviced fine. Learn the facts, be precise and do not tell lies. I as abrother, will tell you that the outsourcing is top notch!

Righto, chief, and the subsequent flaps-out landing and days out of revenue service in CLT are simply a figment of everyone's imagination, right?

 

[delldude]

AP.

Not all of them are licensed AMTs, remember MROs do not employee all licensed mechanics.

Just judge the paintwork that was done in ARA and the numerous problems with 700UW when it came back from BFM.

I saw the logbook and it had MELs still on the plane, never seen one of our planes released from overhaul with MELs.

never served under spina then did you?like i said...duh.

 

[delldude]

700UW:
I was just kidding about the licensed mechanics working at STS. I agree with you 100%, anyone who has ever been around contract maintenance especially overhaul facilites knows that the majority of mechanics are NOT licensed but their work is bought off buy a licensed mechanic. In many cases if the licensed mechanic is not willing to buy off the work of the unlicensed mechanic, the contractor finds one who will!!! I have been unable to locate the exact percentage of licensed mechanics STS has one the property..........I wonder why the company does not release that info???????

That is a VERY serious accusation, in my mind! Unlicensed mechanics being "payed off" by licensed mechanics to do their work?? That is how I read your post.

Please clarify ....

2b

hey guy...i see you aren't in maintenance at all...no problem...there is a simple term that applies to your work on an aircraft...when you finish your job and need it inspected...you get someone in the inspection department to "buy off" your repair...it means he puts his ok on it.....he buys back your work.....
like "i repaired this widget per the manufacturers repair manual" and now i need a buyback inspection....it is then either accepted (bought off) or rejected....
you capeesh now my freind??......no ones paying to get items "bought off".
speaking of buybacks...i knew this mech one time and when he worked on anything i always took a bus.... naw,only kidding.....
have a nice day.

 

[usfliboi]

Ill say this ! Some of you guys are really walking a very fine line here. This is why the company has a policy that most of us dont like simply because of stuff like this. Your chopping your nose off despite YOUR OWN FACE. The fact that FAA doesn't have enough help can go both ways. 700 your making some horrible serious accusations which hurt your fellow workers. To those who are the flying public! I hope you understand the people making this accusations are Iam people for the most part with an agenda. Usairways planes are safe regardless of the people doing the work. We have some great iam people who know what they are doing and in every aspect know our aircraft. Please dont mistake "an agenda" with the real truth. I apologize for my fellow co workers for their misinterpretation of the facts. The fact is we want our iam people in house to do the work. This is not how to accomplish that. There are many who take offense to this slander and moderators please watch carefully simply because these comments are bordering on slander and potential damaging propaganda to our company as well as the hard working people of US!

 

[700UW]

700 your making some horrible serious accusations which hurt your fellow workers. To those who are the flying public! I hope you understand the people making this accusations are Iam people for the most part with an agenda. I apologize for my fellow co workers for their misinterpretation of the facts. The fact is we want our iam people in house to do the work. This is not how to accomplish that. There are many who take offense to this slander and moderators please watch carefully simply because these comments are bordering on slander and potential damaging propaganda to our company as well as the hard working people of US!

Now you are a lawyer? Show me where I have slandered or said anything wrong!

You are a F/A, not an AMT and you do not work in maintenance and you have not worked A/C 700 when it came back from ST MAE@BFM

I have not said one thing about our own employees, I have said our own employees are not pressured to do cut corners or do shoddy work and always praised my fellow maintenance workers.

Where are you pulling your accusations from? Where have I or any of the posters misinterpreted what happened because we are the ones fixing the work the right way? Do you have your A&P license now?

Taking lessons from the Fabricator of the Facts?

FACT:
A/C 700 had several emergency landings after being WORKED by ST MAE in BFM.

It cost US thousands in extra money in sending air taxis, parts and our own mechanics to fix the plane.

It sat in the CLT line Hangar for three days for our own mechanics to fix the plane properly, funny how since our mechanics fixed it, 700 has not had any problems nor made any emergency landings.

And if you say you want us to do the work in-house yet in previous posts you supported the company's position on outsourcing.

Fact:
Upon 700's return to revenue service a security check was done, and several seat cushions could not be removed. Maintenance came out to look at the airplane and it was found that the great workers(as you say at ST MAE@BFM) wired the laptop power supply wires thru the straps of the seat cushions. So how would a passenger be able to use the seat cushion as a flotation device if they were wired to the seat frame thru the very straps you are suppose to put your arm through?

Fact:
When US got the Ex-Eastern 757s they were brought back to revenue service by Dynair.

Fact:
Our own mechanics had to go do all the work over again to bring them up to par.

Fact:
Vangaurd sent five 737-200s to COPESA in Chile to have fresh C-Checks done and reconfigured the planes back to Metrojet as they were leased from US and being returned.

Fact:
Tampa Base Maintenance had to do most of the work over again and change almost everyone of the engines upon being returned from COPESA.

Fact:
A/C 573 was in New Iberia, LA, for a repaint at Aviation Exteriors, since US was having some problems with lap joint cracks, the FAA did an unannounced inspections and found that company's employees using razor blades to dig out compound that help lap joints together and doing some serious sheet metal damage.

A/C 573 was ferried back to PIT unpainted and spent several months being repaired by our own top notch mechanics to a cost of over $500,000 because of improper work being done by a vendor.

So I have given you FACTS, you are the one making accusations and misinterpreting things that have transpired that you were not involved with or privy too. Why don't you stick to serving cokes, something you should know about, not telling us maintenance workers what was done to our planes and what we did to correct it.

Here learn the real definitions:

Slander:
1 : the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation
2 : a false and defamatory oral statement about a person — compare LIBEL

Propaganda:
the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect

Now show me where any of us posters have done that!

Don't become the next Fabricator of the Facts!

 

[usfliboi]

These "facts" you talk about are rumor untill i see it in writing. The last few post meet to a "t" the definition of rumor and slander. With all of that said, Ill assume what you say is correct 100%...... IS THIS THE FORUM TO AIR YOUR LAUNDRY? There are non employees on this site. To "air" dirty laundry about safety of our airline knocks your nose off despite your face. It hurts your fellow employees in the long run when people who fly our airline stop flying because our maint. "inhouse" says we have shotty maint from an outside source. If You have a problem and can back all of these "facts" up why is it that the iam hasnt brought this to court and said it in the media to force the company? WHY you ask? Because it prob has a hard time backing it up! The heads of iam doesnt want their jobs to be further eroded by running passengers away . Finally i dont want to get into an argument with you. Im sure youre a great mech and appreciate what you guys do . I for one want our guys to do the work. There is a line however i wont cross. Respectfully !