Just an example of PTO and his MEL capabilities.
Aft. Fwd. Facing Flight Attendant jumpseat INOP. This jumpseat, Flight Attendant position C, is a minimum crew position, minimum F/A crew A-319 is three. With only two jumpseats in the Aft. section of the aircraft an aisle passenger seat in the last row must be designated " For Flight Attendant Use Only."
Upon boarding the aircraft a noticed a "replacement worker" in the flight deck checking the logbooks. As I went about performing my pre-flight safety check, I noticed the aft. fwd. facing F/A jumpseat was wrapped in red tape. I went to the back of the aircraft to check to see if a passenger seat had been designated for Flight Attendant use. No seat had been placarded. I went forward to speak to the "replacement worker". The man spoke broken english, his first language being spanish. I tried to explain the situation to him, however it was difficult due to his limited understanding of the english language. The man told me that mechanics don't put placards on seats to designate them for Flight Attendant use only, he said that it was the Flight Attendant's responsibility. I told him that it was standard operating procedure with Northwest Airline Mechanics and that he'd better check the MEL book. He brought out the book and showed me MEL Item # 25-22-01B, which was! the item listed in the cabin logbook. The description of this item did not mention minimum crew positions. I told him that there must be another section and I tried to turn the page. He put his hand on the book and stopped me from turning the page, saying, "oh no, this only thing." I told him to call a supervisor. Just then the First Officer boarded the aircraft and I told him that as soon as he was settled in the flight deck that I needed to talk to him. I explained the situation and the F/O agreed. Shortly thereafter a supervisor came to the aircraft along with the original "mechanic", the first officer pointed out the correct MEL Item # 25-22-01A and explained that a passenger seat had to be placarded with specific terminology "FOR FLIGHT ATTENDANT USE ONLY". The original mechanic was sent back to placard the seat, while his supervisor corrected the entry in the logbook to reflect the proper MEL item number. His first attempt with placard number 040749 said, "Exlusive Only Use Flight Attendant." (notice the spelling "Ex-Lusive"). In addition the placard was loosely stuck to the headrest o! f the seat. I informed the F/O that the placard was wrong and that it was already falling off. I had to call the "replacement worker" back just as he was leaving the jet-bridge. The F/O again told him that the placard had to have the specific terminology stated in the MEL book. As he was going to the back of the aircraft to change the placard we asked him, "Do you want us to hold boarding." to which he respond, "Any-tyne." Obviously, he did not understand the question. After he was done I went back to check the placard, this time it said, "Use Only Flight Attendant." I went forward to report this to the F/O. By this time the original "replacement worker" had left so our F/O had to radio for another "mechanic". A third "replacement worker" showed up this time and the correct terminology was used , but the placard was again stuck to the headrest and was peeling off. I asked the "mechanic" to use tape so that the placard would not fall off, but I was ignored. The logbbook page number listed on the placard was 9790007. The incorrect write-up was done on Oct. 2, 2005 and was not corrected until the afternoon of Oct. 3,
2005. This was a fairly simple write-up, but a delay was caused by incompetence. It is a sad day when Flight Attendants have to instruct "mechanics" in proper MEL procedures.