Heavy Maintenance?

[Birdman]

We at AA are being told continually by the compAAny and union that, "AA is the only airline performing their own heavy maintenance". Translation: reduce turn times significantly or the work will be outsourced. Can any employee of Northwest confirm that you do absolutely no heavy maintenance on your own aircraft?

 

[NWA/AMT]

We at AA are being told continually by the compAAny and union that, "AA is the only airline performing their own heavy maintenance". Translation: reduce turn times significantly or the work will be outsourced. Can any employee of Northwest confirm that you do absolutely no heavy maintenance on your own aircraft?

[post="265118"][/post]​

That would be incorrect. NWA still does heavy maintenance on the majority of our fleet types, such as the 757 and A320, although some, like the DC-10, are now outsourced.

 

[Birdman]

That would be incorrect

No one should be shocked that AA/TWU would be spreading lies especially when AMFA is involved. I plan to speak up the next time one of the goons attempt to propogate this lie. BTW, is there any internal effort at NWA to improve turn times and efficiency?

 

[Bigsky]

Go home Bird!! The NWA folks aren't going to bite. AA has issues of their own to deal with and I suggest you refocus. Recommend trying the UA or US boards.

 

[Birdman]

Go home Bird!! The NWA folks aren't going to bite. AA has issues of their own to deal with and I suggest you refocus. Recommend trying the UA or US boards.

What's your angle Bigsky?? I come in peace. .

 

[Bigsky]

Alright, bad etiquette on my part. Outsourcing is a sore subject with many of us. I do believe most of the heavy maintenance like C and D checks are done in house. With many mechs on furlough, it would be nice if 100% of all MX was done at NWA. Except for AA, I believe most airlines have outsourced mx to some degree.

 

[Birdman]

I can understand that. Major reductions in pay and bennies are mine. I still harbor severe anger towards the compAAny/union. In 2001, we had just ratified a decent contract (thanks to NW). The company had leverage to demand major turntime reductions and passed. Now that they have their billions in concessions there're getting their turntimes reduced dramatically. Who's driving the initiative? Mechanics. The AMT's at NW have held their ground in regard to pay and have paid dearly in jobs in retaliation. I was just curious if the mechanics at NW were making it harder for management to outsource by being more productive. From what I've read about NW management they only have thing on their mind regardless of efficiency gains. They must get some major ribbing around the AirCon campfire by AA management.

 

[NWA/AMT]

I was just curious if the mechanics at NW were making it harder for management to outsource by being more productive.

[post="265292"][/post]​

There is only so much the mechanics can do in that regard as they are not the ones who design, implement or administer the maintenance programs.

For years many of us have tried to put forward suggestions for improvements only to have our ideas quickly dismissed by management. Eventually you get the message: they don't want to improve the process, they want to eliminate it. Having it be as inefficient as possible just makes that goal easier, with the added benefit being that they get to blame the mechanics and their union for the whole mess.

Do I sound cynical? Probably. But remember, cynics aren't born, they're made.

I know that you know this already, but expecting the TWU to tell you the truth about AMFA is like going to the Chevy dealer and expecting him to tell you good things about what Ford has to offer. Not gonna happen.

I can tell you one thing though; if we'd stayed in the IAM there would be a lot less of us here to worry about it now. Their TA, the one we rejected before voting them out, contained none of the job protections we have enjoyed the last few years.

 

[Birdman]

There is only so much the mechanics can do in that regard as they are not the ones who design, implement or administer the maintenance programs.
For years many of us have tried to put forward suggestions for improvements only to have our ideas quickly dismissed by management.

I thought the same thing until our gung-ho dock (not mine) reviewed paper work for redundancy and reviewed everything they did to maximize efficiency. With the majority of the dock "on-board" they cut their turntime nearly in half on their first try. Some help came from a Continuous Improvement team that super cleaned and organized their dock for them (they could have done it themselves) but it was the mechanics initiative and efforts that made it work. To my knowledge the bill-of-work did not change. I guess the big difference is AA's management wants to improve but is to inept to lead and NW's has neither the desire or the ablilty. Kind of reminds me of very popular management joke I'm sure you've heard.

Management
A man flying in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. Reducing altitude, he spotted a man on the ground and descended to shouting range.

"Excuse me," he shouted. "Can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him a half hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below responded: "Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees North Latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees West Longitude."

"You must be an engineer," responded the balloonist.

"I am," the man replied. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost."

Whereupon the man on the ground responded, "You must be a manager."

"That I am" replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."