Just Want Everyone To Know

[2BorNot2B]

I have read these boards for many months now ... and I must admit the postings really raise my blood pressure. There is an extreme diversity in posters here .. and there are many that are strictly outsiders ... agitators, if you will!

I am most concerned about the recent posts about Pilots and Maintenance. This is the area that is truly the most important to all that travel by air.

I am Retired .. with over 21,000 hours of flight time starting with Mohawk Airlines and finishing with USAir. From beginning to end we always had in-house maintenance. In all those hours of flight time I experienced only two major aircraft problems. First was a Turbine failure of the left engine in 1967 on a BAC-111 on takeoff out of Toronto (no big problem ... just returned for landing). The second was a failed hydraulic line on a B-737 on my very first (is not that always the case?) West Coast trip. That was a manufacturing defect in the S/S line ... you could see the fault.

And that was the extent of it! Everything else was, IMHO, minor! If ever there was a problem, Maint. was right on top of it. They were always right there.... in the cockpit and discussing any concerns. Not one aircraft was dispatched without total safety and never was any Pilot or Mechanic ever coerced to fly or release an aircraft that was questionable.

I do not think for a moment that anything has changed in regard the Pilots or the Maintenance staff at USAirways!

 

[PITbull]

I have flown for 23 years. I can say, never had a problem with all my years of flying. I had one incident that one engine went out, and on a/c right all the galley, lights, went out on one side. I could feel a shift in power with some lag. But we didn't even have to prepare for an emergency landing. It was unenventful and we diverted to SYR.

There is no compromise for safety and the feeling of being safe. Our mechanics are above the best of the best. This is were all should "part company" with management. The "outsourcing" is every labor groups problem. Its not just an IAM issue.

 

[ktflyhome]

2borornot2b: I spend my career and my life in the air and I have never seen maintance slide or slip in any area. If and when there is a "problem" our guys have been there ASAP to promptly take care of any problem and correct if they could. I have the utmost respect for the Maintance of U and would and do trust them with my life. at all times. My life depends on them when things "up front" are going askew. Never...Never...Never... have I ever been afraid to take-off after one of U's mechanics sighned us off as GOOD TO GO>

kt

 

[mweiss]

I think you may be misunderstanding the point of the posts. It's not that US mechanics are incompetent. And it's not that outsourced mechanics are, by definition, incompetent either.

It's perfectly fine to talk about specific examples to suggest that a particular maintenance company has shoddy practices. To conclude from that one company that all outsourced maintenance is shoddy is absurd.

 

[AP Tech]

We DO appreciate the compliments!!!!!! Some of the finer compliments we have received have been" info only "logbook entries thanking maintenance for safe aircraft over their career. We just wish the people at CCY would appreciate us and not think of us as an expensive burden.....

 

[PITbull]

I think you may be misunderstanding the point of the posts. It's not that US mechanics are incompetent. And it's not that outsourced mechanics are, by definition, incompetent either.

It's perfectly fine to talk about specific examples to suggest that a particular maintenance company has shoddy practices. To conclude from that one company that all outsourced maintenance is shoddy is absurd.

Wiess,

I think you read the post incorrectly.

Who said anything about "outsourcing" being shoddy. The thread is about "inhouse" maintenance and its value!
You are conceptulizing from the post something completely different and inferring that its about "outsourcing". Its about how good the work is with U mechanics.

That's the premise of the thread. Why go else where, when you have the best!

 

[mweiss]

I think you read the post incorrectly.

Who said anything about "outsourcing" being shoddy.

I was basing my post on the following:

I am most concerned about the recent posts about Pilots and Maintenance.

The threads containing those posts had many comparisons between outsourced work and insourced work. The comparisons drawn could have been construed to imply that insourced work is as "bad" as outsourced work, which, when connected to other posts regarding the quality of work coming back from Mobile, might be construed to imply that insourced work is shoddy.

If I'm mistaken about the point of your post, 2B, please correct me.

 

[2BorNot2B]

If I'm mistaken about the point of your post, 2B, please correct me.

Good Evening to All!

MWeiss ... you are a prime example of what I find at fault with Forums! You have demonstrated a "knack", that I admittedly lack, of twisting words and distorting statements. PitBull was right on target .. you are intent on destroying this thread that I proudly presented.

The excerpt of my post that you used to justify your words was my humble opinion of the posts that I have been reading here. There are indeed many passengers on this forum, reading facts and falsehoods about USAirways. I cannot quote each post ... but I will say that there have been enough of them to give a "outsider" the overall impression that USAir pilots would indeed accept and fly a deficient aircraft ( other than MEL) and that USAir mechanics would improperly clear a logbook entry, or that our maintenance is no better than any other! USAir maintenance is SUPERIOR and second to none! The Pilots and F/A's concern for safety is second to none! I have told that to everyone I have met for all my years in this business.

I want our passengers to know this!

Outsourcing was not any part of my post ... that is a different issue

2B

 

[mweiss]

In that case, 2B, I sincerely apologize. I had no intention of twisting your words. I simply misinterpreted your statement.

FWIW, I have yet to meet an airline's mechanic that didn't make me feel comfortable flying on that airline's metal. Those of you who do that work are to be commended for a job well done.

I understand the level of complexity of these machines, and the number of things that can go wrong. The fact that we now have year upon year of extremely few incidents is testament to the quality of work you do.