American and the FAA

[1AA]

Lately the FAA has been under pressure for lack of oversight and being too cozy with management. OK so the FAA got real picky about our MD 80 wiring bundle fiasco. As I remember the inspector(s) were anal about the spacing and the direction of the knots.
Even as all practices and parts were airworthy we still grounded our fleet under pressure from the FAA. Now why is it that the FAA allows SouthWest to continue to fly their aircraft with know unairworthy parts until December? Is there one set of rules for AA and another for SWA? Seems to me that bogus parts should be a valid reason to ground the affective aircraft until replaced versus wire bundle lacing practices.

Any comments on this logic????

 

[The Goose]

Lately the FAA has been under pressure for lack of oversight and being too cozy with management. OK so the FAA got real picky about our MD 80 wiring bundle fiasco. As I remember the inspector(s) were anal about the spacing and the direction of the knots.
Even as all practices and parts were airworthy we still grounded our fleet under pressure from the FAA. Now why is it that the FAA allows SouthWest to continue to fly their aircraft with know unairworthy parts until December? Is there one set of rules for AA and another for SWA? Seems to me that bogus parts should be a valid reason to ground the affective aircraft until replaced versus wire bundle lacing practices.

Any comments on this logic????

"My politician is stronger than yours", perhaps?

 

[JAFA]

My plain brown envelope is thicker than your plain brown envelope. Size does matter.

 

[skipfly]

Not that the FAA deserves anyone backing their actions against AA, but maybe you forgot about 250+ MD-80 tailcone slides that AA was given 30 days to fix. That could have been huge, so they worked with AA one that one.

 

[700UW]

Probably had to do with not wanting to ground planes of the airline that carriers the most domestic passengers so they would loss money and the real airlines make a profit for a change.

Plus isnt Georgie boy from TX? hint hint

 

[FA Mikey]

full article here

An escalating dispute between the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines came to a boil Friday with The Wall Street Journal reporting government inspectors think the airline tried to hide defects and safety problems on their aircraft. According to people familiar with the details, American "abruptly retired" one jet to hide it from inspectors during a maintenance check-up of at least 16 aircraft with allegedly improper repairs, the newspaper reported.

 

[7-cubed]

When will the Board of Directors recognize what Bob Redding and his "cut it to the bone" maintenance program is doing to this airline, and put him on the street?

 

[The Goose]

Has anyone considered if the FAA grounded enough aircraft (80s), the company could call a layoff and pay no severance per contract?

"Allowing" the FAA to do the dirty work while getting a free ride would be about what I'd expect from the trash that runs AMR.

 

[eolesen]

It's called emergency leave... Not quite force majeure, but a notch below it.

Your disdain for management is noted, but I don't think I'd call them trash.

The current leaders have their shortcomings, and were idiots for their handling of the PUPs, but even those actions don't come anywhere near the level of self-serving arrogence shown by the real robber barons in the industry: Stephen Wolfe (UA, US), Rakesh Gangwohl (US), Glenn Tilton (UA), Carl Icahn (TW), Jonathan Ornstein (YV), or Frank Lorenzo (CO, EA)...

 

[Hopeful]

FAA is basically accusing AA of forgoing a maintenance issue because the aircraft was going to be grounded anyway.

But Southwest gets to keep flying aircraft with suspect parts installed simply because they don't pose a safety threat.


Yea, I'd say the FAA is gunning for AA.

 

[TWU informer]

It's called emergency leave... Not quite force majeure, but a notch below it.

Your disdain for management is noted, but I don't think I'd call them trash.

The current leaders have their shortcomings, and were idiots for their handling of the PUPs, but even those actions don't come anywhere near the level of self-serving arrogence shown by the real robber barons in the industry: Stephen Wolfe (UA, US), Rakesh Gangwohl (US), Glenn Tilton (UA), Carl Icahn (TW), Jonathan Ornstein (YV), or Frank Lorenzo (CO, EA)...

That is the same mentality of TWU supporters during the AMFA drive.

The Mentality:

The TWU doesn't suck because AMFA sucks more

 

[DallasConehead]

And from the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Read the full storry here: http://www.star-telegram.com/857/story/1588993.html

A mechanics union official questioned all the fuss.

If something was later found to have been wrong with the jetliner, "the mechanics and the company are still culpable for whatever happened when the plane was in service," said Donald Videtich, an aircraft mechanic who oversees maintenance and engineering issues at the Transport Workers Union of America.

"How somebody can make the assumption that American is trying to hide something is problematic," said Videtich, of Hurst.

"Why would American try to hide something if they self-disclosed a problem with fasteners? And then they run and hide a plane in the desert?

"This is crazy. This isn’t a story; it just doesn’t ring true."

Moreover, he called it irresponsible to raise concerns among the flying public before a busy holiday weekend.

He also said the report wrongly described relations between the FAA and American as strained, adding that he has only seen cooperation, not discord, in recent months.

"Our planes are inspected, and we don’t have a problem with the FAA," Videtich said. "We have a check-and-balance system that has been in place and which we work with."

Videtich said there is more continuous FAA scrutiny at American facilities than at offshore maintenance centers used by other U.S. carriers in such countries as El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and China where, in some cases, a week’s advance notice of an inspection must be given.

 

[TWU informer]

Good job TWU.

No mention of failed negotiations. Just defending of the company.

Don Videtich - Can you say Company Suck Ass?

 

[eolesen]

Call me whatever you want, but you stand a lot more to gain from giving the perception that AA's mechanics are safety minded professionals first and foremost.

 

[TWU informer]

Call me whatever you want, but you stand a lot more to gain from giving the perception that AA's mechanics are safety minded professionals first and foremost.

Well that's all fine, then defend the mechanics when you speak instead of the company. I know a few mechanics and inspectors that worked on the planes in question. But I am not going to spew any facts on this bulletin board and have HR and Legal all over my arse. There is more to this story than being reported presently.