mweiss said:
Reread what I said. Wages
alone... Relative wages within an economic ecosystem certainly have an impact on quality, regardless of industry. But that doesn't mean that someone whose native language is not American English is incapable of performing quality maintenance on aircraft assembled in Renton.
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Reread what I said. There is a definite correlation in decline in maintenance wages and decline in maintenance quality. The erosion of the standards in maintenance has been gradual since deregulation but it has accelerated in the last few years, with outsourcing being the primary cause. This isn't a theory, it's an observed effect. Finding the wiring for a wheel well light disconnected, uncapped, and creating an electrical arc to the nearest structure - a hydraulic line - isn't economic theory, but it is explosive. Receiving a part allegedly 'overhauled' by some offshore vendor and finding it to be in worse shape than the broken part you removed has become a common occurrence; now imagine what it means if those defects aren't readily or immediately visible...
As for the language issue, it is interesting that, according to the DOT Inspector General, in the majority of the overseas maintenance operations very few of the mechanics or even the engineers speak, read or write english. Yet, ostensibly, they are performing complex and intricate procedures from manuals which are only available in english where they work.
And as long as a company can function well with the CEO residing in a lower-wage nation, the same rules should apply. That they won't at the top of the large corporations speaks more to the closed environment than anything else.
Once we have outsourced the manufacturing, servicing, technical support and other non-management functions of an industry, how long do you think it will be before those overseas realize they can manage themselves quite well without us? I think you're confusing "won't" with "currently don't".
No, your point was that as jobs are lost employment remains constant, and my point was that as they are replaced the wages and quality of the jobs declines, as does the contribution of those jobs to a consumer economy, begetting more job losses.
In a local and short-term sense, that is absolutely true. In a global and long-term sense, it is not.
I'm not going to argue that the loss of US-based aircraft maintenance jobs is good for people in the US in our lifetime. It's not.
Explain the global and long-term benefits to the former airline mechanic who now works for a third party maintenance outfit, if he's able to find a job in this country, and is faced with choosing between what is right by the maintenance manual and feeding his family. Or to the passengers who depend on his decision.
But to pretend that this fact means that we're all less safe when we get on board is beyond silly.
Again, you misunderstand: I'm not putting forward a theory here, I'm describing an observed effect. We see these planes every day and we see the effects of outsourcing first hand. If you choose not to believe me, then that's your choice. But if you think that all maintenance is performed equally regardless of the environment in which it is performed, you're just kidding yourself.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/07/10/bi.ai...airs/index.html
DOT IG Report
http://www.aviationoutsourcing.com/PDF/GAO...about%20FAA.pdf