NWA mechanics strike
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Northwest faces safety probe
The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation are investigating safety allegations at Northwest Airlines raised by Mark Lund, an FAA avionics inspector assigned to Northwest at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, from Northwest Airlines Corp.'s home state of Minnesota, asked the federal agencies to investigate after the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, a union representing FAA inspectors, contacted him with its concerns.
The union charged that about 470 FAA inspectors' reports on Northwest have not been entered into an electronic database since the strike began as previously required and that more than 58% and as many as 90% of those inspectors' reports cited defects, compared to a 3% to 5% defect rate at Northwest before the strike.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told Sen. Mark Dayton that a thorough investigation will be conducted.
The Department of Transportation inspector general's office has also send an audit investigative team to Minneapolis.
http://www.radarvector.com/2005/09/n...ety-probe.html
U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, from Northwest Airlines Corp.'s home state of Minnesota, asked the federal agencies to investigate after the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, a union representing FAA inspectors, contacted him with its concerns.
The union charged that about 470 FAA inspectors' reports on Northwest have not been entered into an electronic database since the strike began as previously required and that more than 58% and as many as 90% of those inspectors' reports cited defects, compared to a 3% to 5% defect rate at Northwest before the strike.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told Sen. Mark Dayton that a thorough investigation will be conducted.
The Department of Transportation inspector general's office has also send an audit investigative team to Minneapolis.
http://www.radarvector.com/2005/09/n...ety-probe.html
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Here is a link to read the memo from the FAA inspector that outlines his safety concerns with northwest.....
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.or...afolo/memo.pdf
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.or...afolo/memo.pdf
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Inspections at Northwest Raise Questions
Associated Press
October 3, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Reports filed by federal aviation inspectors during the
first month of a strike by Northwest Airlines Corp.'s mechanics challenge
assertions by executives that operations are running smoothly, according to
a newspaper's review of the records.
In a story for Sunday's editions, the Star Tribune newspaper reported that
the inspection records - which were reviewed by two independent aviation
experts - describe training deficiencies among replacement workers, thin
staffing, maintenance blunders and mistakes in recording aircraft repairs.
It cites one incident in which mechanics failed to find a dead bird in the
engine of a jet about to leave Memphis, Tenn., but a co-pilot spotted it
before takeoff.
In another case, it said inspectors watched replacement workers in
Philadelphia work through the night to replace a brake. That job normally
takes experienced mechanics less than three hours, the experts said.
The Star Tribune reported that Northwest declined to discuss the substance
of more than 100 reports it obtained.
On Sunday, Eagan-based Northwest said in a statement it had told the
newspaper that the company considered it inappropriate for it to comment on
FAA internal documents.
"Northwest remains confident in the quality of its ongoing maintenance
program. Our operation continues to run normally,'' the airline said. The
statement also said the discovery of the dead bird came from the typical
visual preflight safety inspection by the co-pilot, which would reveal such
issues.
Since the mechanics walked out Aug. 20, Northwest has used 1,200
replacements, a few hundred managers and outside vendors to maintain and
repair its planes. According to AMFA, about 40 of its members have crossed
the picket lines. Since the strike began, Northwest has filed for bankruptcy
protection, which typically triggers more FAA inspections at an airline to
ensure maintenance is not compromised.
After the strike, the FAA raised the number of personnel assigned to
Northwest from 53 to about 80. The additional inspectors allow the FAA to
conduct more spot checks and write more reports, but the agency still can't
monitor all activities at the nation's fourth-largest airline, which
operates 1,400 daily flights.
Before the strike, Northwest insisted its replacement workers were fully
licensed and trained, and that it wouldn't compromise on safety.
But Northwest has acknowledged conducting "refresher training'' for
replacements since the strike began to ensure proper documentation of
aircraft maintenance, a crucial safety discipline, the Star Tribune
reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the training
was initiated after the agency's top inspection manager at Northwest
discussed record-keeping problems with the airline. That training has been
completed.
Cory said the FAA does not comment on how well individual airlines comply
with regulations. But she said many of the FAA inspection reports found no
faults, while Northwest promptly corrected shortcomings. A few reports
remain under investigation.
She said the FAA is "seeing great improvement in the logbook area'' since
replacements were retrained. And she said Northwest is complying with
staffing level rules.
In its statement Sunday, Northwest said several of the issues were addressed
by the time the Star Tribune contacted it Tuesday. It said all repairs were
completed according to Boeing and Airbus maintenance procedures and had met
the airline's maintenance standards.
"None of the items provided by the Star Tribune involved safety of flight
issues,'' Northwest said.
With hundreds of inspection reports still unavailable, it is impossible to
draw definitive conclusions about safety at the airline from the sample of
FAA reports it reviewed, the newspaper reported. None of the reports
revealed any in-flight maintenance problems.
Union leaders for Northwest's 4,200 striking mechanics told the Star Tribune
that the FAA reports bolster their contentions that the airline's reliance
on replacement mechanics has put the public at risk.
"These records provide examples that are even worse than we imagined,'' said
John Glynn, maintenance standards coordinator for the Aircraft Mechanics
Fraternal Association.
The Star Tribune said it had the FAA documents, along with dozens of
Northwest's internal aircraft maintenance logs, reviewed last week by former
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia and by John
Krawczyk, a former mechanic and maintenance inspector for United Airlines
with 20 years of airline maintenance experience. It said Krawczyk has no
ties to Northwest or its mechanics' union.
Krawczyk said the mistakes exposed the public to danger.
Goglia, a licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic who is a professor of
aviation science at St. Louis University, said he saw evidence of training
deficiencies and documentation errors throughout the inspection reports and
maintenance logs.
Associated Press
October 3, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Reports filed by federal aviation inspectors during the
first month of a strike by Northwest Airlines Corp.'s mechanics challenge
assertions by executives that operations are running smoothly, according to
a newspaper's review of the records.
In a story for Sunday's editions, the Star Tribune newspaper reported that
the inspection records - which were reviewed by two independent aviation
experts - describe training deficiencies among replacement workers, thin
staffing, maintenance blunders and mistakes in recording aircraft repairs.
It cites one incident in which mechanics failed to find a dead bird in the
engine of a jet about to leave Memphis, Tenn., but a co-pilot spotted it
before takeoff.
In another case, it said inspectors watched replacement workers in
Philadelphia work through the night to replace a brake. That job normally
takes experienced mechanics less than three hours, the experts said.
The Star Tribune reported that Northwest declined to discuss the substance
of more than 100 reports it obtained.
On Sunday, Eagan-based Northwest said in a statement it had told the
newspaper that the company considered it inappropriate for it to comment on
FAA internal documents.
"Northwest remains confident in the quality of its ongoing maintenance
program. Our operation continues to run normally,'' the airline said. The
statement also said the discovery of the dead bird came from the typical
visual preflight safety inspection by the co-pilot, which would reveal such
issues.
Since the mechanics walked out Aug. 20, Northwest has used 1,200
replacements, a few hundred managers and outside vendors to maintain and
repair its planes. According to AMFA, about 40 of its members have crossed
the picket lines. Since the strike began, Northwest has filed for bankruptcy
protection, which typically triggers more FAA inspections at an airline to
ensure maintenance is not compromised.
After the strike, the FAA raised the number of personnel assigned to
Northwest from 53 to about 80. The additional inspectors allow the FAA to
conduct more spot checks and write more reports, but the agency still can't
monitor all activities at the nation's fourth-largest airline, which
operates 1,400 daily flights.
Before the strike, Northwest insisted its replacement workers were fully
licensed and trained, and that it wouldn't compromise on safety.
But Northwest has acknowledged conducting "refresher training'' for
replacements since the strike began to ensure proper documentation of
aircraft maintenance, a crucial safety discipline, the Star Tribune
reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the training
was initiated after the agency's top inspection manager at Northwest
discussed record-keeping problems with the airline. That training has been
completed.
Cory said the FAA does not comment on how well individual airlines comply
with regulations. But she said many of the FAA inspection reports found no
faults, while Northwest promptly corrected shortcomings. A few reports
remain under investigation.
She said the FAA is "seeing great improvement in the logbook area'' since
replacements were retrained. And she said Northwest is complying with
staffing level rules.
In its statement Sunday, Northwest said several of the issues were addressed
by the time the Star Tribune contacted it Tuesday. It said all repairs were
completed according to Boeing and Airbus maintenance procedures and had met
the airline's maintenance standards.
"None of the items provided by the Star Tribune involved safety of flight
issues,'' Northwest said.
With hundreds of inspection reports still unavailable, it is impossible to
draw definitive conclusions about safety at the airline from the sample of
FAA reports it reviewed, the newspaper reported. None of the reports
revealed any in-flight maintenance problems.
Union leaders for Northwest's 4,200 striking mechanics told the Star Tribune
that the FAA reports bolster their contentions that the airline's reliance
on replacement mechanics has put the public at risk.
"These records provide examples that are even worse than we imagined,'' said
John Glynn, maintenance standards coordinator for the Aircraft Mechanics
Fraternal Association.
The Star Tribune said it had the FAA documents, along with dozens of
Northwest's internal aircraft maintenance logs, reviewed last week by former
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia and by John
Krawczyk, a former mechanic and maintenance inspector for United Airlines
with 20 years of airline maintenance experience. It said Krawczyk has no
ties to Northwest or its mechanics' union.
Krawczyk said the mistakes exposed the public to danger.
Goglia, a licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic who is a professor of
aviation science at St. Louis University, said he saw evidence of training
deficiencies and documentation errors throughout the inspection reports and
maintenance logs.
