Hopeful
Veteran
- Dec 21, 2002
- 5,998
- 347
More troubles for AA -- Maintenance
- Thread starter Hopeful
- Start date
T
The Goose
Guest
Are we supposed to be surprised?
jimntx
Veteran
Here's a link that doesn't require that you subscribe.
Free report link
As a flight attendant, I'm more concerned with the maintenance lapses now than the ones from 2008.
A couple of months ago, a friend was involved in two "loss of hydraulics" incidents in two days on two different a/c at DFW. Fortunately the a/c was still on the ground when both incidents happened.
Last Thursday, we were boarding at DFW when the captain discovered three writeups in the logbook that required repair before the a/c could be moved. (The cockpit crew and we had changed planes from our inbound flight, and boarding had already started when they arrived.) The a/c had been sitting at the gate empty for over an hour when we arrived and boarding started. This was not all the fault of maintenance. Gate Agent said inbound pilot had said nothing about any problems with the plane when the inbound crew got off. We were delayed an hour by the time maintenance arrived, took the a/c out of service, and another a/c was found for us.
If the FAA is trying to prove that they are not in airline management's pocket, I would like to see them paying attention to what is happening now, not what did or did not happen 2 years ago.
Free report link
As a flight attendant, I'm more concerned with the maintenance lapses now than the ones from 2008.
A couple of months ago, a friend was involved in two "loss of hydraulics" incidents in two days on two different a/c at DFW. Fortunately the a/c was still on the ground when both incidents happened.
Last Thursday, we were boarding at DFW when the captain discovered three writeups in the logbook that required repair before the a/c could be moved. (The cockpit crew and we had changed planes from our inbound flight, and boarding had already started when they arrived.) The a/c had been sitting at the gate empty for over an hour when we arrived and boarding started. This was not all the fault of maintenance. Gate Agent said inbound pilot had said nothing about any problems with the plane when the inbound crew got off. We were delayed an hour by the time maintenance arrived, took the a/c out of service, and another a/c was found for us.
If the FAA is trying to prove that they are not in airline management's pocket, I would like to see them paying attention to what is happening now, not what did or did not happen 2 years ago.
MERV
Advanced
Nothing new from it they're finishing their investigation and seeing how to fix it like that doesn't happen again and much AA will pay in fines. I believe that agencies is more at fault than AA is because in past they just let go and fix it but they're having a change heart for some reason.
jimntx,
Take the agents comment with a grain of salt. Their knowledge of write ups is generally optional. Now and then some ask the inbound crew if their are any issues, most don't. Notification to Maintenance is either by radio or electronic message. It's not uncommon for someone to drop the ball after we send them a electronic message about a write up before gate arrival.
chris perry
Veteran
- Sep 17, 2008
- 544
- 118
Not at all suprised about fines.This industry is headed for trouble,Maint at American is prob the best it gets
as far as Airlines are concerned.The all the rest a piece work of foriegn repair stations not even inspected out of sight out of mind mentallity.Remember Value Jet,it was the darling of wall street at one time!!!!!!!!
TWU informer
Veteran
- Nov 4, 2003
- 7,550
- 3,731
I would love to comment on this topic with some details. But would like to keep my job for now.
And this it not a challenge to Ralph and his moderating of these boards, but it is a fact that with union and management working together in M&E since 2005 there is no way to discuss maintenance details regardless of failure or success without invoking the union into the discusssion. I mean they really are one of the same when it comes Maintenance and Engineering at AA.
That being said, I would warn against giving specific details regarding maintenance lapses on this forum and keep your comments in general terms if you choose to comment at all.
If I get time off for this post then I will talk to you all after my punishment expires.
And this it not a challenge to Ralph and his moderating of these boards, but it is a fact that with union and management working together in M&E since 2005 there is no way to discuss maintenance details regardless of failure or success without invoking the union into the discusssion. I mean they really are one of the same when it comes Maintenance and Engineering at AA.
That being said, I would warn against giving specific details regarding maintenance lapses on this forum and keep your comments in general terms if you choose to comment at all.
If I get time off for this post then I will talk to you all after my punishment expires.
Here is a simple explanation to save Ralph the work.
Nothing on the internet is secret if someone wants to hit back at you hard unless you had the brains to make your initial login and every post after that from a cheap internet cafe paid in cash.
AA is too cheap to go after every pissed off employee on the internet, there are probably 20K of them, but if one chooses to play "hardball" on a higher level of charges, you will hit a trip wire at some point and suffer the wrath of a few bored AMR attorneys doing exactly what they are told to do, which is to get you fired or make you go bankrupt defending yourself.
Even if Ralph was the owner of the site and was a staunch privacy orientated unionist, he would be forced to turn over anything and everything on request of a court order.
Their hands are tied as well just as any website is in these situations.
Nothing on the internet is secret if someone wants to hit back at you hard unless you had the brains to make your initial login and every post after that from a cheap internet cafe paid in cash.
AA is too cheap to go after every pissed off employee on the internet, there are probably 20K of them, but if one chooses to play "hardball" on a higher level of charges, you will hit a trip wire at some point and suffer the wrath of a few bored AMR attorneys doing exactly what they are told to do, which is to get you fired or make you go bankrupt defending yourself.
Even if Ralph was the owner of the site and was a staunch privacy orientated unionist, he would be forced to turn over anything and everything on request of a court order.
Their hands are tied as well just as any website is in these situations.
For those of you who are concerned with us turning over information:
If there were in fact a court order, the owner of USAviation.com (not me) would probably have to comply. However, since our registration process was somewhat more loose in the past, it would be academic how much we could tell them. There are some registrations in the system that don't even have a legal name associated with them. And, in some airlines, employees are evidently granted free access to the Internet at work; so, tracking a particular computer's use might turn up hundreds of employees using it to post.
Re: suspensions for thread hijacking:
If the problems between AA management and AA unions are resulting in AA mechanics doing less than their best, shame on you. Peoples live are at stake. I would grant you that perhaps AA management's passion for cutting costs are causing items to be deferred that shouldn't be; however, I still fail to see how that is a contract issue.
What we as moderators have been objecting to is the tendency of some of you to turn any discussion into a screed about the greedy management or a polemic about the poor downtrodden worker. The weather, the failure of health care reform, and the final score in the Super Bowl are NOT affected by the problems at AA despite what some of you seem to think.
Enjoy the boards, guys and gals, but please understand that there are other issues besides the contracts.
If there were in fact a court order, the owner of USAviation.com (not me) would probably have to comply. However, since our registration process was somewhat more loose in the past, it would be academic how much we could tell them. There are some registrations in the system that don't even have a legal name associated with them. And, in some airlines, employees are evidently granted free access to the Internet at work; so, tracking a particular computer's use might turn up hundreds of employees using it to post.
Re: suspensions for thread hijacking:
If the problems between AA management and AA unions are resulting in AA mechanics doing less than their best, shame on you. Peoples live are at stake. I would grant you that perhaps AA management's passion for cutting costs are causing items to be deferred that shouldn't be; however, I still fail to see how that is a contract issue.
What we as moderators have been objecting to is the tendency of some of you to turn any discussion into a screed about the greedy management or a polemic about the poor downtrodden worker. The weather, the failure of health care reform, and the final score in the Super Bowl are NOT affected by the problems at AA despite what some of you seem to think.
Enjoy the boards, guys and gals, but please understand that there are other issues besides the contracts.
TWU informer
Veteran
- Nov 4, 2003
- 7,550
- 3,731
The problem isn't an individual mechanic giving less than his/her best, The problem is the current entry wage and union restrictions on hiring certain skills while there are other union members still on layoff, combined wiith the TWU thought process that AA can upgrade any warm body into a skilled position and be trained is lowering what the individual "best" consist of.
That is where my belief that the union does indeed have a role to play in this point of interest comes from. I am still not going to give specific details regarding this, you will just have trust those of us in the trenches everyday that there are issues.
And thanks for letting me explain without giving the moderator wrath of time off.
That is where my belief that the union does indeed have a role to play in this point of interest comes from. I am still not going to give specific details regarding this, you will just have trust those of us in the trenches everyday that there are issues.
And thanks for letting me explain without giving the moderator wrath of time off.
