Well are they defects or not?!
If an aircraft is not in A1 ,tip top, condition does this then constitute the need for attention from Engineering.
There has been a lot of talk recently about how 'good' a Hold Item is. A Hold that could potentially down an aircraft (dare I say a cat ' A' MEL) would be considered a 'Good' Hold, whilst an aircraft with pathetic paint and thus a bad image for QF would be considered a 'Bad' Hold.
Both require Engineering to rectify the problem, but in an airline run by Pilots and accountants the fact that paint is a form of corrosion prevention is somewhat lost.
And what are we to do. Wait for these defects to be found on 'A' checks? If we can get enough guys to work on the aircraft. If we can get enough time to rectify the defects. We dont have enough time/manpower as it is to fix problems, just do the inspections and hope you dont find anything.
This is a problem with an obvious fix no one wants to admit. We have a severe shortage of qualified Engineers able to perform the necessary tasks and until the issue of staffing is addressed we will continue to be pressured by management to cut corners in order to make the system work.
Train and Employ more staff. Stop looking at what it costs you and start looking at what it SAVES you!
Maintain the Rage