Usa Today: Mechanics Strike At Northwest Appears Over

[robbedagain]

why is NWA gettin rid of you and who is the new contract company and when does it take affect?

 

[PlayTheOdds]

Robbed, All the mechanic positions here have been filled. The contractors here are no longer needed thus they are bringing the contract to a close. This means that the contract company's services are no longer necessary thus my services are no longer needed here. In other words its MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. You know "GAME OVER". It's been a great ride and now it is time to move along. That is just the nature of the contract industry. I think the only reason NWA is keeping us as long as they are is to see how it goes with the Holiday traffic. If every thing goes well we will be gone on Dec. 1st. If things don't go so well they will adjust their manpower requirements and we will still be gone on the 1st or they might keep us a little longer while they bring more people in. There will not be another contract company coming in, this is it. NWA has the mechanics it wants to do the job with no union involved. When another contract company comes in here it will be to replace the rampers if they don't get their act together. We marshaled in two aircraft yesterday and two more today so far. I hope we get to marshal in more. If we go to a gate and the aircraft is waiting on the tarmac for seven minutes we call in a MAP and they marshal it in while we wing walk and set chocks then we hook up external power and air. I think the pilots are catching on as to what is going on and think it is pretty funny. We stand out there waiting for the time to count down and then spring into action. Then the rampers come out of know where wanting to know what the hell we are doing. If they don't get it together soon we will have those pushback jobs. I hope it happens before I leave.

 

[local 12 proud]

local, you're just to funny I doubt you would ever get a union guy to tote blue juice. I think they call it getting the job done. You guys would have just killed the bird, just like DEAD BIRD did.

....... "getting the job done"? you ever hear of a MM pto? oh i forgot you guys just wing it and do what the boss man tells ya. trust me pto when I say the law of average will some day bite you and it WILL HAPPEN. when your standing in front of a board of inquiry hosted by the FAA there wont be doughnuts and coffee and you can bet your BOSS MAN wont be there to back you either. your a fool and a dangerous one at that!

 

[PlayTheOdds]

I did fail to mention a couple of days later that I did get ribbed for that stunt. It sorta was on the lines of ask before you do something "out of the ordinary." I asked them if the Lavs were operational for the passengers. The answer was yes. I asked if the Lav service panel was an airworthiness issue. Of course it is not. Like Bob said The MEL books are very poorly written in some cases. What makes a Lav Inop? Everything that makes a Lav operational for its intended purpose was there and working properly. Nowhere in the MEL/CDL book is there a MEL that addresses the Lav service panel. If a Lav will not accept blue juice from the service panel it has always been addressed as an Inop Lav. So you tell me local what makes a Lav Inop? It was decided by my managers and MC that the aircraft did depart with three operational Lavs. Though they didn't like the way it was done they couldn't argue the point either. I'm interested in knowing if there is going to be a rewriting of the Lav MEL section because of this. Even though they were getting on to me I think their glad that I did what I did at the same time. They were simply going through the motions.

 

[local 12 proud]

Even though they were getting on to me I think they glad that I did what I did at the same time. They were simply going through the motions.

....and this is the kind of answer that will get you into hot water with the FAA hero! those certificates which were granted to you and can be removed at any time does not give one authority to supercede the MM. you better start being an A&P who follows the FAR's and forget about what some manager tells you and "simply going thru the motions" as you put it!

 

[PlayTheOdds]

What is up with you local? The MEL clearly states that the aircraft must have a minimum of 50% of the lavs operational,that is written in black and white. The aircraft departed with 75% of its lavs operational. What about that do you not understand?

 

[local 12 proud]

What is up with you local? The MEL clearly states that the aircraft must have a minimum of 50% of the lavs operational,that is written in black and white. The aircraft departed with 75% of its lavs operational. What about that do you not understand?

the Minimum Equipment List DOES NOT address the maintenance procedures you moron!......what about that do you not understand?

 

[PlayTheOdds]

What does the maintenance procedures have to do with anything concerning this issue? It was determined that the repair would take to long for the aircraft to make the flight, per the AMM. It was a terminating flight anyway. So service the lavs and send the aircraft on its way so that three hours later the lavs service panel can be repaired with no time constraints. I could see your issue with this if the lavs were inop but they were operational. What about that do you not understand, moron. Are you and DEAD BIRD drinking together?

 

[local 12 proud]

What does the maintenance procedures have to do with anything concerning this issue?

... the issue is some hotshot who decides to take it upon himself to hand carry buckets of blue juice upon a commercial aircraft to service the lavs which were unable to be serviced according to MM. procedures and should have been REPAIRED LEGALLY or PLACARDED...as I said your a fool and a dangerous one at that!

 

[PlayTheOdds]

Hey local, Its not an airworthiness issue. It was documented in the F/A log. Maintenance was deferred to MC. The parts were placed in the AOG box and that to was documented. It was a three-hour terminating flight for the aircraft. The Lav service panel was repaired that night. The aircraft was signed off with a clean maintenance release. Get a life local.

 

[local 12 proud]

The aircraft was signed off with a clean maintenance release.

.....oh was it now? and exactly how was it signed off pto?......unable to service lav per MM.procedures, serviced with buckets of blue juice ok for service?

 

[PlayTheOdds]

I wasn't quiet that descriptive, I left out the bucket part. Serviced Lav was sufficient enough to clear the F/A Lav Inop write up. I then entered my own write up stating that there was difficulty in servicing the Lav and recommended that such and such part be replaced. It was very effective.

 

[local 12 proud]

It was very effective.

....But was it legal? and is that not falsification of records?...Look pto what im trying to convey here is that as light as you may take such issues to be and seem to think that aviation is just another "grease monkey" trade, you will some day be hit with the cold hard facts. Take it from some one who has been in this field well over 20 years, you best dot every "I" and cross every "T" and forget all this hero crap. a board of inquiry is NO FUN and I speak from experience!

 

[PlayTheOdds]

I said from the beginning that I think I fudged that one a bit. The end result was that it was a good aircraft with operational lavs. It was my call and mine alone. I did get reprimanded for it, if it was somewhat lightly and your point is well noted.

 

[Hackman]

Looks NWA scab Airlines is tanking;

Highlights from November 2005 Air Consumer Report

September 2005 Arrival Data Airport

Airport

No of NWA
Flights

On Time
Percent

Airport Average All
Arrivals
BOS 356 49.7 74.0
DEN 402 68.2 89.1
EWR 402 60.4 71.1
FLL 146 67.8 84.5
LAS 440 57.0 80.5
LAX 506 55.7 82.2
LGA 590 64.4 77.0
ORD 584 65.1 81.0
PHL 379 61.5 83.0
PHX 299 51.2 85.1
SAN 150 42.0 81.8
SEA 390 66.9 81.1
SFO 296 52.4 78.5
SLC 149 59.1 86.6
TPA 241 66.8 85.3


Note that NWA's on time percentage is significantly lower than the airport average for arrivals. There is as much as a 39.8
spread between the airport average and the NWA average (San Diego).

Other Highlights from the Report

Northwest had 1.2 percent of their flights late 70 percent or more of the time. Other major carrier examples are Continental
with .5 percent; Delta and American with .3 percent. Northwest is significantly worse.

The current DOT data base runs from September, 1987 to September, 2005. Northwest's ranking for that 18 year period is
number 2, an excellent record. But, Northwest's ranking for September, 2005 is 20 out of 20, the worst record of the 20
reporting airlines. As recently as the 4th quarter of 2004, Northwest was number 6. Northwest was number 10 in July, the
month before the strike.

All data is from the United States Department of Transportation Air Consumer Report for November, 2005. The report includes data through September, 2005.

Contrary to NWA's claim, operations do not appear to be normal.

Wow..... the scab NWA operation isn't performing too well, the worst of ALL airlines flying today, last place. Will it get better? Does not appear to be the case now that the rest of the employees will be getting hammered by Dougie Stealin' The other unions should have walked in August....