Northwest Gets Slammed On Msnbc

[North by Northwest]

"newhire ramp workers quit when the going got tough" It's called airline outsourcing. Take an airline with one of the best luggage handling records in the industry FOR YEARS, and let's see how we can destroy it. Afterall, it's all about CHEAP.

 

[mistified]

mistified,
I can assure you that the DOT will be doing some Monday morning quarterbacking. Aside from an emergency, there is nothing that tells an airline where they have to divert. It is simply irresponsible to voluntarily divert an international widebody aircraft to an airport incapable of handling the flight or the aircraft. If it came down to a fuel emrgency, the pilot waited too long to divert. I cannot imagine the flight left AMS with Moses Lake as an alternate.

I have checked and there were diversions from SEA due to weather. I am not aware that any of the other flights turned out as badly as this NW international flight.

[post="234034"][/post]​

Are you a pilot?
When all the facts come in you may find that it was not as simple as you suspect.

 

[mistified]

It's a first come first serve game. Portland, Vancover and GEG may have already been taken by other diversions. Then they say no more. Where I think the real screw up took place was after the flight landed at Moses Lake. Murphys law did take over.
But hey, it ain't a perfect world. And at least the plane did not fall out of the sky!
System works 99% of the time. Its the 1% we always here about.

 

[Winglet]

Sounds like the Captain and dispatcher bet on the come that he'd be able to get into SEA, ran their fuel options to the bone, then were left with no reasonable choice. From there, they were driven by events instead of driving events.

 

[North by Northwest]

Give me a damn break! If there had been NO weather then these people would have something to WHINE about. They should be whinning to the Customs officals for not letting them off the plane. They should be THANKFUL they arrived safely. But nooooo that is not the crybaby, "I'm a VICTIM" mentality that prevails in this country nowadays. It is truely pathetic. They had better stay off those planes bound for SYD, or SIN non-stop. Just what the hell did they expect NWA to do when the US government says you can NOT let paxs off the plane? How bout we try to land in SEA in the fog ( so they can be on time) and CRASH the plane? I don't all of the facts but I can only guess at the "it's Northwest's fault" reports.

 

[Kev3188]

It's a first come first serve game. Portland, Vancover and GEG may have already been taken by other diversions. Then they say no more.

[post="234303"][/post]​

No diversions in PDX that night. I'm also pretty sure (though not 100% certain) that PDX is closer to SEA than MWH.

 

[Kev3188]

You'd think they would be harping on the bigger Northwest story of Northwest transferring many of the baggage handling responsibilities at larger stations to Pinnacle and Mesaba, who then had their newhire ramp workers quit when the going got tough. Ouch. It's the new market reality; it's not a career, it's just a low paying job.

[post="234253"][/post]​

Who'd want to work in the MSP winter for $7.00/hr.?! You'd think that the high cost(s) of turnover would eventually open their eyes, but I doubt it will.

 

[NWA/AMT]

It's a first come first serve game. Portland, Vancover and GEG may have already been taken by other diversions. Then they say no more. Where I think the real screw up took place was after the flight landed at Moses Lake. Murphys law did take over.
But hey, it ain't a perfect world. And at least the plane did not fall out of the sky!
System works 99% of the time. Its the 1% we always here about.

[post="234303"][/post]​

The plane falling out of the sky was never the issue, thanks, but being held hostage because of someone's stupid decision was. You can stop making excuses for this one because there aren't any.

Portland was wide open - that means gate space available and NWA staff on hand - and is one of the normal alternates for AMS-SEA and is the usual choice in case of SEA fog diversions.

And it's that 1% that the passengers lawsuits will address over the next few months, with all the attendant negative publicity.

 

[emily]

Sorry for the repeat post, I'm new here. From what I understand, the Captain was running low on fuel, and I also admit not knowing distances to other cities from SEA as to why they chose Moses Lake. About the crew, SEA is a much smaller base, close to the end of the month - reserves may have been running close to max hours in SEA vs MSP which is a much larger base and reserves have a harder time getting their hours in.

[post="233931"][/post]​

There are no reserves in SEA. MSP is the only DC10 base.

 

[Kev3188]

Still no concrete answer(s) as to who made the decision to go to MWH and what their rationale was. PDX was wide open, has international facilities, and had staff on duty just waiting to hear when to expect the plane. Does anyone from NWA SOC, Planning, or Dispatch read this forum? Maybe they'd like to weigh in?

 

[North by Northwest]

"There are no reserves in SEA. MSP is the only DC10 base. " I highly doubt they could not find a DC-10 crew in SEA...how long ago was it that they flew 10's out of there? Let's just wait and see. I am SURE this will never happen again. Somebody had better put a plan B of action in place and not just wait and see what happens.

 

[emily]

"There are no reserves in SEA. MSP is the only DC10 base. " I highly doubt they could not find a DC-10 crew in SEA...how long ago was it that they flew 10's out of there? Let's just wait and see. I am SURE this will never happen again. Somebody had better put a plan B of action in place and not just wait and see what happens.

[post="235022"][/post]​

I highly doubt you know what you're talking about. If they had a crew in SEA, legal to fly, then of course they would have used them. I do agree that they need a much better plan B for the future.

 

[mga707]

Still no concrete answer(s) as to who made the decision to go to MWH and what their rationale was. PDX was wide open, has international facilities, and had staff on duty just waiting to hear when to expect the plane. Does anyone from NWA SOC, Planning, or Dispatch read this forum? Maybe they'd like to weigh in?

[post="234973"][/post]​

This plane was coming in from AMS, so PDX would've added time and miles to the flight. As I've stated, GEG would've been the (IMHO) obvious choice as an alternate, being E of SEA. Less than 100 air miles from Moses Lake, in fact.

 

[mga707]

No diversions in PDX that night. I'm also pretty sure (though not 100% certain) that PDX is closer to SEA than MWH.

[post="234341"][/post]​

Pretty much a wash as far as mileage from SEA. But on this flight's routing, MWH was obviously closer.

 

[JetClipper]

This plane was coming in from AMS, so PDX would've added time and miles to the flight. As I've stated, GEG would've been the (IMHO) obvious choice as an alternate, being E of SEA. Less than 100 air miles from Moses Lake, in fact.

[post="235402"][/post]​

Didn't the plane circle SEA for a while before the crew decided to divert to MVH? If so, the diversion airport's location relative to SEA should not have mattered in the decision.

Either way, it looks like the ghost of DTW is rearing it's ugly head again. Is NW going to have to build a new terminal in SEA now too?