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EK Delayed out of Seattle

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EK Delayed out of Seattle

Old 10th Feb 2017, 01:29
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EK Delayed out of Seattle

BBC WS News are reporting a 6 hour delay on an Emirates flight out of Seattle to Dubai because a senior Delta Airlines manager demanded the return of a $300 spare part which had already been fitted to the EK aircraft. Apparently it was the last one in Delta's stores.

Anyone know if the report is accurate and if so what was the part and from where did EK finally source it? Is it something Delta might need often?

Thanks in advance.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 01:53
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U. N. L. I. K. E. L. Y
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 02:05
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I'm sure it must be so hard to find a Boeing part in a sleepy backwater town like Seattle.

Look for the derivative media articles decrying delayed repatriation of family members, some of whom may have been Muslim, pending a final ruling by Delta.

Emirates Says Flight Was Delayed After Delta Withheld $300 Spare Part

by Deena Kamel

‎February‎ ‎9‎, ‎2017‎ ‎2‎:‎54‎ ‎PM‎ ‎EST

Mechanical fault stalled Seattle-Dubai service for six hours
Gulf carrier says U.S. rival located part but wouldn’t sell it

Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said a flight from Seattle to Dubai was delayed for more than six hours after it was unable to obtain a $300 spare part from Delta Air Lines Inc., which has led a campaign against the expansion of Mideast carriers in the U.S.

A Boeing Co. 777 due to depart the American city at 9 a.m. on Feb. 2 was held up by a mechanical issue requiring the replacement of a minor hydraulic component, Emirates says. While the part was sourced from Delta’s local engineering office and installed on the plane, a senior manager at the U.S. carrier’s Atlanta base later ordered that it be removed, it claims.

“It is sad, in our view, that any airline would deny such standard technical assistance to another carrier based on orders from headquarters that had nothing to do with maintenance or cost, but seem clearly to have been intended to inflict harm on the airline and its customers,” Emirates said in an e-mail.

Delta shares parts with other airlines whenever possible through an industry agreement and doesn’t withhold them from any particular carrier, Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said. The item in question was the last spare of its kind in Delta’s Seattle inventory, and company policy requires that it keep the last one on hand in case Delta needs it, Thomas said.

“Having the right spare parts in the right places and in ample quantity is critical to ensuring a reliable airline operation for our customers,” Thomas said.

Gulf Dispute

Delta, together with American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc., is embroiled in a long-running dispute with the three main Gulf carriers after urging the federal government to block their growth on the grounds that they received illegal aid payments -- a suggestion that Emirates, Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways all reject.
The issue may be reignited after U.S. airline representatives met with Donald Trump Thursday, with the president telling them they faced “big league” competition, much of it “subsidized by governments.”

Qatar Air Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker branded Delta “wicked” last year after the Doha-based carrier’s first flight to Atlanta with the Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbo was directed to a remote gate at the world’s busiest airport, leaving elderly and infirm passengers to disembark via temporary stairs rather than through the usual air-bridge.

At the time, Delta said Qatar Airways was late in trying to secure gates for the A380 flight, which require special gates because of the jet’s size. Delta attempted to accommodate Qatar’s flight, despite the carrier’s tardiness, while making sure it could accommodate its own schedule, a company spokeswoman said in June.

Card Payment

In the incident this month, Emirates said Delta had refused a credit-card payment for the spare and ordered a local engineering provider to remove it from the 777. Code-share partner Alaska Airlines Inc. eventually came to the rescue by providing the part, leaving the flight to depart 6 hours and 24 minutes late.

“Despite this incident, Emirates will continue to render such technical support to other carriers, including Delta, irrespective of whether we agree or disagree with their policy views,” the Gulf company said.

Thomas, the Delta spokesman, said it wasn’t immediately clear Thursday why the company originally allowed Emirates to use the part before calling it back.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...held-300-spare
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 02:50
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Must be more to the story. If aog desks stop cooperating with each other it's going to get very expensive for everyone.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 03:19
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Do any of the manufacturers maintain parts inventory in key hubs where they have large customer presence for a particular type, i.e Airbus in Dubai for A380, Boeing in LA, NY or Singapore for B777 etc?
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 03:58
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If the part has been legitimately fitted, under the terms of an agreement, then I would have thought Emirates would be entitled to refuse Delta access to it, once fitted and to have asked for police aid if necessary. It may still have needed to be signed off but I would have thought a Boeing engineer, with a telex from the DGCA UAE, could have done that? May have been wise to include the FAA as well. Much more to this than meets the eye I suspect.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 05:34
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Why fit it in the first place if someone is going to cause a hissy fit and want it back? Perhaps Trump wanted the part for himself.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 06:10
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Sounds like a typical stores wallah to me. "Yes, I have one of those in the stores but if I let you have it, I would have none. So you can't have it"!
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 06:11
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Most likely an expendable part (union or seal plate) and the Delta Engineer thought, as most station guys do, that he was doing a good turn but somebody got their kni*kers in a twist over not being consulted 1st. Now you would expect that Delta will have to recertify the part before it can be used by them! However most IATA pool spares would be rotables and cover only AOG situations where the MEL does not give dispatch relief. An hydraulic repair kit might be a pool item and example, a part from it, if EK was not in that pool, then Delta could not supply it, as it would contravene the agreement with the other partners.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 12:21
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I seem to recall Boeing having a large parts store opposite SEA. Is it still there? It must be one of the I better places to need a part for a 777 in a hurray.

In the early days of Virgin Atlantic I had a colleague who knew someone who worked for B.Cal. engineering who did work for VS (so this is coming to you third hand) who said that BA engineering would not supply a part to VS but were happy to do so when it was requested for a B.Cal. aircraft. (Perhaps there was something in "Dirty Tricks".)

Hopefully aviation is now a mature industry so this doesn't happen now. Fingers crossed.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 14:17
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Do any of the manufacturers maintain parts inventory in key hubs where they have large customer presence for a particular type, i.e Airbus in Dubai for A380, Boeing in LA, NY or Singapore for B777 etc?
This was Seattle for heavens sake, if you can't get the spare part in question from Boeing things must be bad.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 14:48
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Then there is the possibility that the part is manufactured overseas for Boeing and then distributed to major parts suppliers around the world and Boeing ain't one of them.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 15:06
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Possible, maybe? I'd still be convinced that Boeing would be most likely.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 15:08
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Originally Posted by Evanelpus
This was Seattle for heavens sake, if you can't get the spare part in question from Boeing things must be bad.
It might have been an engine spare in which case Seattle may not be the best place to be. Derby UK perhaps.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 15:33
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Boeing was switching to just-in-time inventory control for manufacturing. No more big warehouses of parts awaiting planes coming down the assembly line. A seal or gasket will probably be packaged as a part of a ship set along with the associated assembly being installed. It would be a major headache to open up a packaged set to extract one part and then not have that entire assembly available for the manufacturing line. Boeing also might bet a price break on parts destined for new assemblies and be prohibited by contract from diverting them to spares (IDGs were priced this way back in my day).

If its an expendable part like a gasket, Boeing probably figures that customer maintenance will keep these in stock, so why bother.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 17:42
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I find puzzling the statement that EK was later able to secure the part from Alaska Airlines. Alaska does not fly any B777s (or any widebodies for that matter).
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 18:13
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The report says it was a minor hydraulic component, don't all aircraft have those?
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 18:22
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I seem to recall Boeing having a large parts store opposite SEA. Is it still there? It must be one of the I better places to need a part for a 777 in a hurray.
Still there, just east of the runways at the north end of SeaTac. Big white building, rather easy to spot as it says "Boeing" on the side in several foot high letters.
I'm with SeenItAll, strange that Alaska would have the part as they are 100% 737 operator. If it's a 'common' part used on many models, why would it be so hard to source (especially, as noted, when you're next door to the main Boeing spares facility). Something just doesn't add up.
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Old 10th Feb 2017, 20:44
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EK probably spent the six hours negotiating the price from $US300 to $US275.
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Old 12th Feb 2017, 02:45
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Simple Delta and every other airline hates Emirates, why would they not?
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