union power

[The Goose]

You have no idea how much I actually travel. Buying tickets wouldn't be a viable, or justifiable, expense if I had a different job.

Why do you want to travel on aircraft with such large lists of deferred maintenance anyway?

This is going to be rather deadly eventually and I personally have no desire to become a statistic simply because of low-cost or free flight "benefits" on American, Eaglet, or any other airline.

That's not what I would term a benefit - rather, I'd call it a gamble. I refuse to fly on any commercial aircraft for that very reason - if I can't drive or take a train, I don't go.

 

[Skymess]

Why do you want to travel on aircraft with such large lists of deferred maintenance anyway?

This is going to be rather deadly eventually and I personally have no desire to become a statistic simply because of low-cost or free flight "benefits" on American, Eaglet, or any other airline.

That's not what I would term a benefit - rather, I'd call it a gamble. I refuse to fly on any commercial aircraft for that very reason - if I can't drive or take a train, I don't go.

i like to think the maintenance workers at my airline don't allow things to go out that would harm people. The ones I know refuse to allow things to go out that would compromise their licenses and people's lives. I have faith in my maintenance team. Granted, I don't know all of them, but the ones I do know take pride in their work.

 

[The Goose]

i like to think the maintenance workers at my airline don't allow things to go out that would harm people. The ones I know refuse to allow things to go out that would compromise their licenses and people's lives. I have faith in my maintenance team. Granted, I don't know all of them, but the ones I do know take pride in their work.

Granted, I tend to be safe rather than sorry, but I see what is happening in maintenance on a daily basis. American used to be unsurpassed in their quality of aircraft maintenance - I can only assume the others are worse than what I see - ain't no way in hell I'm getting on any commercial aircraft - even military is preferable to commercial from my standpoint.

Just remember - there ain't no gas stations at FL 430.

 

[texasreb]

The sad thing is that the scab mechanics at NWA are now sitting pretty with full time positions at Delta. I wonder what the mechanic helpers [aka osm] think about that.

 

[eolesen]

HOWEVER ... does everyone remember "why" Carty was supposedly forced from AMR's top job? It was over the establishment of an executive slush fund that wouldn't have come to light until after the contract voting was done, were it not for the supposed "screw-up" in the FA's voting. Is anyone so stupid as to think this slush fund was solely Carty's doing even though he was the one chosen to fall on the sword and take one for the team?

The slush fund was established to pay (as we were told) retirement benefits to the top executives who may not get their "due" (remember the max) should the PBGC be "awarded" administration of the AMR retirement funds. Should this happen, executives will be paid from the fund in excess of what the PBGC insures. If the pension is frozen or done away with, one would think the original $46 million (plus earnings and contributions, of course) wouldn't go very far (consider the salaries of the hogs at the trough). Therefore, the pension has to stay in force to pay for the lavish retirements of these SOBs without a severe depletion of this slush fund - we're taken care of rather nicely (even with PBGC involvement), but only commencing at age 65 - the execs would be rather screwed were they subject to our pension limitations?

Goose, at least get the timeframes right. The formation of the SERP dates into the early 1990's if not the 1980's, more than a decade prior to April 2003. The only thing that AMR did in 2003 was seed the funds via a trust. The SERP hadn't been up to that point, and payments were being made out of free cash.

Everyone wanted to (and apparently still wants to) make it look like a pig trough, but there's another side to this that got lost in all the emotion of seven years ago.

Remember that the majority of people getting paid from this aren't from the current band of thieves you despise so much. It's largely people who lead the company from what it was in the 1970's to where it was in the early 90's, and to a lesser degree, execs who "retired" after Crandall did. Go look at the SEC filings, and you'll see these guys weren't pulling in the mid-six-figure salaries that the current guys do.

It's so much easier to vilify Carty as looking out for himself, but did you ever stop to think that it finally got to the point where the number of executive retirees/widows drawing pensions got to the point where it was no longer practical to simply keep funding their monthly payments out of free cash?...

An obligation is an obligation. If you think that the front line guys deserve to have their retirement obligations met, how can you with a straight face deny it to someone else who had nothing to do with the 2003 concessions?.....

 

[JimJimmyJim]

eolesen:
An obligation is an obligation. If you think that the front line guys deserve to have their retirement obligations met, how can you with a straight face deny it to someone else who had nothing to do with the 2003 concessions?.....


You know thats misleading. The company isn't going to keep our pension funded forever. It's just a matter of time.

 

[eolesen]

Show me where AA is trying to stop funding the pensions... I haven't seen it. The only thing they've proposed doing is closing the pension to new employees. How is that abandoning pension obligations?

 

[Duke787]

Why do you want to travel on aircraft with such large lists of deferred maintenance anyway?

This is going to be rather deadly eventually and I personally have no desire to become a statistic simply because of low-cost or free flight "benefits" on American, Eaglet, or any other airline.

That's not what I would term a benefit - rather, I'd call it a gamble. I refuse to fly on any commercial aircraft for that very reason - if I can't drive or take a train, I don't go.

This guy should lose his A&P, what an unprofessional thing to write.

 

[KCKKen]

Where do you work? and what do you do?

Duke,

I work for the Kansas City (Kansas) Board of Public Utilities (electricity and water) as a Traffic Signal Technician. With all the advances in traffic control technology and the fiber optic cable splicing we also do it's a real secure job for those in the shop.

 

[The Goose]

This guy should lose his A&P, what an unprofessional thing to write.

Obviously, you believe very much like the medical profession and other groups of so-called "professionals" - protect each other first and foremost - damn the consequences.

I don't believe that way nor do many others. I have no problem speaking about what I see on a daily basis - your type wants to sweep it under the rug. Ain't going to happen with me watching nor with many others here who watch your kind.

Telling the truth is PROFESSIONAL and ETHICAL. Lying or assisting/attempting to hide facts is far from professional conduct, in my opinion.

FYI - if an office toadie tells me or hints I am unprofessional, I always take that as a compliment. Thank you.

 

[Duke787]

Duke,

I work for the Kansas City (Kansas) Board of Public Utilities (electricity and water) as a Traffic Signal Technician. With all the advances in traffic control technology and the fiber optic cable splicing we also do it's a real secure job for those in the shop.

Sounds like a cool job, congrats, and thanks for the info.

 

[Duke787]

Obviously, you believe very much like the medical profession and other groups of so-called "professionals" - protect each other first and foremost - damn the consequences.

I don't believe that way nor do many others. I have no problem speaking about what I see on a daily basis - your type wants to sweep it under the rug. Ain't going to happen with me watching nor with many others here who watch your kind.

Telling the truth is PROFESSIONAL and ETHICAL. Lying or assisting/attempting to hide facts is far from professional conduct, in my opinion.

FYI - if an office toadie tells me or hints I am unprofessional, I always take that as a compliment. Thank you.

To allow a plane to fly that you know is unsafe, is unethical. To sit back and say a plane is unsafe because of deferred items, then tell the flight crews they are unsafe and you wouldn't fly on them, that is a weasel thing to do. You are a unprofessional, unethical, weasel who should not be allowed to have an A&P.


Or you 're just whiner running your mouth. You are a waste of my time, and not worthy of further comment.

 

[The Goose]

To allow a plane to fly that you know is unsafe, is unethical. To sit back and say a plane is unsafe because of deferred items, then tell the flight crews they are unsafe and you wouldn't fly on them, that is a weasel thing to do. You are a unprofessional, unethical, weasel who should not be allowed to have an A&P.


Or you 're just whiner running your mouth. You are a waste of my time, and not worthy of further comment.

Been up all night waiting for a reply?

I don't sign things off I don't like - you do.

 

[Winglet]

Deferring items is a maintenance management decision that is based on company policy, workload, and FAA directives. The aircraft may be technically airworthy (with some specific restrictions), but the ultimate decision, once the aircraft is released by maintenance, as to the aircraft's airworthiness for the flight rests with the Captain. He takes into consideration flight conditions, even time of day, etc. For instance, while the MEL does permit an overwater flight (2 hour ETOPS) on a 2 engine airplane with the APU inoperative, the Captain may well turn the aircraft down as unsafe to dispatch without the safety of a third generator. This could be due to weather conditions at the enroute alternates. Overall, the MEL is extremely liberal in favor of the companies (much too much so IMHO) with regards to allowing broken items/systems to be allowed.

What I expect from maintenance is for the airplane to be honestly and correctly represented in the aircraft logbook. I will make the decision from there as to whether the aircraft is safe and suitable given the particular flight conditions I expect to be in.

 

[Hopeful]

"UNION POWER"......

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.