The WSJ on Tues. has Boeing admitting to having misshaps leading to the cause of the incident occurring Fri. Apr. 1st It looks like Boeing will be taking the blame.
Thank you.
There are clear indications that this event was the result of Boeing not expecting and not designing for this type of failure to have occurred at this point in the life of the fuselage…. You are correct that Boeing has admitted that there is a clear need to identify and correct these types of problems earlier than they admitted.
That being true, then there are no key issues in this case that point a finger at WN for not doing what it was supposed to do – either on its own or by its contractors. Even if those turn out to the case, it doesn’t change the role Boeing had…which means this problem is not restricted to any carrier based on whether they outsource their overhauls or not.
What is a "whole in the fuselage"?'
The whole means the entire thing…being able to see the picture from a complete perspective and not just carved up into little parts (ie immediately jumping on outsourcing or WN when there are no indications those are the root problems)
'Does not appear to be the case? How do you know that with the little info thats been put out? While they havent pointed any fingers yet they certainly havent absolved anybody and I believe its the NTSBs call anyway. From the photos it appears to be a failure at a lap joint. The failure on the AA757 was a failure of the panel where material was etched out to make the plane lighter, they are very different failures. Lap joints are subject to corrosion and cracking because its where three surfaces meet and was the cause for the failures at Aloha and UAL and should be found during heavy checks,when the paint is stripped. The AA failure, which lead to a much smaller hole and slower decompression rate for those in the cabin, (partial as described by someone else here) is probably more troubling to Boeing because it probably cant be pinned on maintenance, its pretty clearly a manufacturing defect whereas the lapjoint failure is probably due to corrosion and or unaddressed cracks between rivets and can be considered a maintenance failure because corrosion and cracks at these locations is pretty common and should be looked at during heavy checks.'
Of course we would expect you to defend AA’s maintenance practices done in-house over a contractors but how about, Bob, you take a look at the number and value of FAA fines levied or proposed against AA over the past 2 years compared to other carriers and let us know what you find?
'The AA failure, which lead to a much smaller hole and slower decompression rate for those in the cabin'
Btw, the past tense of the verb “lead” is “led”
‘Its about time SWA grew up and started acting like a full grown airline instead of an upstart and do their OH inhouse.’
Bob, if we were talking about any other airline, your argument might hold some validity… but we are talking about Southwest Airlines which has been the most consistently profitable airline in US and perhaps global aviation history.
How about you admit that it is time for unions at AA to recognize that times have changed and with it unions must change as well.
It is no surprise that WN has some of the best relationships with its employees of any unionized company, esp. among airlines. While you and others want to continue to argue that it is management’s job to fix the problems at AA, other airlines including WN continue to look for opportunities to grow in AA’s key markets.
How about considering that perhaps WN’s formula is the right formula for the industry and you as a labor leader need to figure out how to work within that formula instead of continuing to fight for a model which only the highest cost and least profitable airline in the US continues to cling to?
'Well one thing is that if this is due to outsourced maintenance it could put AA in a world of hurt. If SWA decides they need to do the work in house they can easliy draw as many mechanics as they need, with a lot of expertise, from AA. AFW and DFW are within commuting distance to Love Field and that Dalfort facility looks pretty big.'
It is far more likely (and still not terribly likely) that WN will be coming across town to pick up 738s which AA has to jettison as part of its liquidation.
