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Two things I think would help. Fisrt, how about making airside drivers more accountable for the mayhem they cause. Better training and conditions of service would help -coupled with much more stiff penalties for screwing up.<hr></blockquote>
Yes, during my handling days we were always intent on causing as much damage as we could only since we knew we could get away with it. The fact that everything should be done ten minutes ago had
nothing to do with the accidents that occured. We were all sadomasochistic too, that was why we so often managed to cause injury to ourselves as well!
We really loved being called into the managers office to be asked why they had the airline rep on the phone yelling about the flight that only got away on schedule, not ahead of it.
Another favourite was being asked in a much raised tone of voice by upset men in suits with gold stripes and peculiar hats why it took ten minutes for the crew bags to be delivered - that sure inspired us to let the job take the time it needed to be performed safely!
Oh, and we loved when the omniscient aircraft drivers happily taxied past not only their assigned gate but also the entire terminal AND the next terminal, just as a practical joke. The challenge of getting to the next arrival in time when they came back again twety minutes late, that was what we lived for!
The maintenance crowd especially appreciated the extra inspections and troubleshooting caused by hard landings, erroneous squawks and general mismanagement of that expensive flying hardware. Of course we know that the pilots are just pulling our legs - after all, they ARE infallible and would never do anything wrong.
It's a disgrace to the entire industry that groundcrews can still be imperfect and be allowed to make mistakes. After all, they are well paid for the responsibility put on their shoulders. Not like the crews who, as we all know, barely receive minimum wage. There should be physical punishment in public, that oughta set them straight!
BTW, if we showed negligence we could be held responsible in court. Oh, the excitement of putting a cargo conveyer through the bulk cargo door of a DC-10 at night with poor to no lighting, at the end of a 13-hour shift, knowing that getting distracted could send you off to face a trial...
Finally someone but me has seen this. It makes me wonder why I left all that for engineering!
Sarcasm? ME?! No way!
<img src="tongue.gif" border="0"> <img src="cool.gif" border="0"> <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">
On the serious side, as EME correctly pointed out it's all about money in the end. Pay more, less things get broken. I guess the airlines think they have found a balance between handling and repair costs now or they should do something about it.
As for the equipment, well... I guess a bit of padding could be added in places. But normal operations mean a LOT of wear and tear. Make the equipment less sturdy and it will break a lot. How much would the slot times missed due to broken down ground equipment cost YOUR airline?
As for the square section steel guard rails... those are what was between us and a four meter drop into other equipment while we were handling 500-kg ULDs that would go straight through anything less solid, taking us with them. If thosee guard rails dent an aircraft every now and then... so be it.
Cheers,
/ft