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By Steve Hall |
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February 8, 2011 – Transport Workers Union (TWU) and the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a
statement commending PBS “Frontline” for its recent
investigative report on
airline maintenance.
Yet according to both unions, much remains to be
addressed in order to ensure the safety of the traveling
public. The report brought to light the increasing use
by The TWU and Teamsters have been concerned for some time over the use of MRO facilities and the report exposes the gravity of the issue. In many cases, the report noted these facilities use non-licensed technicians or mechanics with little or no training on the aircraft. |
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In some
cases, the workers had very limited or no understanding of
English, making it impossible to read maintenance repair manuals
that specify the FAA required procedure to fix an aircraft.
“More often than not, this work is done with minimal or
substandard oversight to ensure a proper repair and FAA
compliance,” said John M. Conley, TWU International
Administrative Vice President and member of the FAA’s Future of
Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC).
“When we
have a situation where properly trained and skilled airline
maintenance professionals are pushed aside to increase profits,
we are left with an environment where pilots have no way of
knowing who repaired an aircraft or if the repair was properly
accomplished; in effect they become flying guinea pigs along
with the flight attendants and passengers.”
According
to the report, one facility used by major Incidents of “pencil-whipping,” a practice of signing off aircraft logbooks indicating repairs had been accomplished when they had not, were also reported. The report also revealed that internal airline documents stated that these falsified repairs came to light only after the aircraft was returned to service and in some cases, could have resulted in loss of the aircraft and loss of lives. |
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