Us Airways May Want Others To De-ice Planes

[delldude]

It was brought up at the union mtg that some utility & some fleet service would be trained to deice..
As for me, I have never done it & want no part of it.

did they tell you at your union meeting that its solely our work and they don't go to hangar personnel until they've exhausted the line?

 

[Harry Callahan]

delldude, no they didn't. But I know that it is. And they shouldn't let it happen.
Also correct me if I'm wrong but I think pushing back is still the mech. job unless they are performing mtc on another gate. More & more (especially if bad weather) mech are choosing not to push the planes back & having fleet svc. do it.

 

[PITMTC]

1. You don't need an A&P mechanics license to deice planes. While we are more critical, anybody with proper training could do the job just as well. Having said that. it is our job and has always been done by us.
2. I wouldn't get excited, I think the county tried to put the sqeeze on PIT by putting it up for bid and giving it to a low bidder, but I doubt IDS is going to have enough "seasonal" and "part time" employees hired, trained and ready to do all the airport. I strongly believe this will fail for the county and we will be doing it this year again. Hey, but what do I know.

 

[PITMTC]

 

[delldude]

delldude, no they didn't. But I know that it is. And they shouldn't let it happen.
Also correct me if I'm wrong but I think pushing back is still the mech. job unless they are performing mtc on another gate. More & more (especially if bad weather) mech are choosing not to push the planes back & having fleet svc. do it.

yes pushbacks are still the mechanics job as outlined in the modified agreement in major stations.
but as i've found,depending on the station....its a different matter.from what i've been told,clt for instance are much more willing to adhere to the contract and if there is delays on another gate so be it.
in pit its been said on these boards they are much more worried about keeping the company happy and not adhering strictly to the contract.what i'm refering to is the manpower limits per gate the company put into the modified agreement.they want these limits and if it interferes with on time operations,well you wanted it that way davey.we have people on furlough and i find it unimaginable that gate ops would worry more about on time than adhering to the company mandated agreement.
you tell me the mech's are now sitting back and letting fleet do the pushbacks?i got a good idea its probably pit....if it is ,that terrible too.sooner or later they will cry when they are not needed on the gate anymore.

 

[diogenes]

In our little corner of the world, ramp rats deice, and we don't call in OT to do it. After pushback, the same guys that pushed gear up and deice. Works out fine.

 

[Harry Callahan]

I know thr mech are suppose to push in clt, pit, phl per the modified contract. I do not know about the other stations......
I just know here where I am that more & more mech are choosing to set in the breakroom & watch fleet push.(NO one I know wants to push they are making us do it)

 

[Busdrvr]

If we can get a company to provide the same level of service for 1/2 the price, then there is a tremendous cost savings to the company and will help to ensure our return to making a profit, thus protecting jobs. Given that we could deice aircraft from Oct to May, that is a significant cost savings.

How much does a set of CFM 1st stage fan blades cost?

 

[Dea Certe]

Does anyone recall who was doing the deicing for Air Florida in DCA? If I remember this right, it was an outside vendor who failed to mix the glycol correctly. Who would do the oversight on this extremely vital service?

Thanks for any answers you might have.

Dea

 

[Dilligas]

Dea Certe,

I don't think the mix was the problem in this incident as much as it was the delay after deicing and the amount of time that elapsed before takeoff which allowed the ice to buildup again. There alledgedly was some reluctance on the flight crew to call for another deicing and delay the flight even more. Thats my recollection, without digging for the facts.

I remember that day well, I think it was Jan 13, 1982. It was an awful winter storm that day where I was also, and I spent way too much of it working outdoors in that storm, I was like an iced over snowman when I made it inside. One of my worst weather experiences on the job.

Nevertheless, I agree with your premise. Personally, I want people deicing that know a bit about the aircraft and principles of flight, and care. Ignorance and/or apathy can be unforgiving in our line of work.

 

[diogenes]

OK then why go through the outsourcing ritual, is it like that systemwide?

Piney Bob,

It depends on how many flights your station operates, and where that station is located.

If a station is staging a few flights at a time, the way we do it at home works.

If you're staging multiple operations, you're gonna need a pad (PIT) or a bunch of deicing trucks and crews (CLT). How often you deice (location) comes into play with staffing.

In another lifetime, I worked the ramp in a hub. We had multiple ops and frequent bad weather. We handled a dozen flights scheduled to depart at the same time with two trucks.

There is no question in my mind management is overstating the labor costs of deicing. BT, DT, GtT.

Deicing is very doable within the existing contract.

 

[AP Tech]

Something must have happened with regards to de-icing in Pit. Today there were an additional 31 jobs bid for line maintenance and I am assuming that is for de-icing purposes. Those 31 jobs will enable the staffing of one of the pads by line maintenance the other rumor has it will be staffed by base maintenance. Due to enviromental concerns all A/C at Pit needing de-iced will have to use those pads. Sierra pad opened just last year has been shut down by the EPA because of glycol run-off.
In the past before Sierra pad opened and we lost all the contract de-icing we were told the salaries of those on the pad were covered by contract de-icing. Still no word on why we got the de-icing back...County, Company, FAA, Union...who knows.....

 

[delldude]

Something must have happened with regards to de-icing in Pit. Today there were an additional 31 jobs bid for line maintenance and I am assuming that is for de-icing purposes. Those 31 jobs will enable the staffing of one of the pads by line maintenance the other rumor has it will be staffed by base maintenance. Due to enviromental concerns all A/C at Pit needing de-iced will have to use those pads. Sierra pad opened just last year has been shut down by the EPA because of glycol run-off.
In the past before Sierra pad opened and we lost all the contract de-icing we were told the salaries of those on the pad were covered by contract de-icing. Still no word on why we got the de-icing back...County, Company, FAA, Union...who knows.....

AP TECH:union education committee put out a bulletin regarding successful results with the company on this issue. company was told by ally.county that they still own the de-ice until jan.5th.
also the company that ally co was going to hire is union and they indicted they WOULD NOT deice U's planes.
check with your steward for the deice bulletin and while your at it there was also an airbus update.

 

[delldude]

its lines work until they exhaust the list then it goes down to the hangar group.everyone who would be de-icing must be trained. it is covered in the mechanic and related contract and where we are staffed it is our work, no different then heavy maintenance or fixing our planes.

Once again the company is trying to steal something they did not get in negotiations. They asked for deicing and they did not obtain it. Once again they are being nothing more then thieves and trying to steal what they could not negotiate

 

[F/AinDay]

Looks as though this has been settled...

US Airways will use own crews to de-ice planes

Airline considered asking airport to hire private company

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03269/225789.stm.