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A QANTAS jet grounded in Melbourne today because of noise from an air-conditioning fault was the same plane that returned from routine maintenance in Malaysia two months ago with 95 defects. The Canberra-bound Boeing 737 jet returned to the terminal and passengers were transferred to another plane, finally leaving Melbourne 90 minutes later, just before 1pm (AEST). A Qantas spokeswoman said QF850 had problems with an air-conditioning duct unit while taxiing towards the runway. “It was a routine return to the terminal due to an air-conditioning fault,” she said.
The 737, registered as VH-TJU, is the same aircraft on which Qantas engineers found 95 defects that had been missed during contract maintenance work by Malaysian Airlines in Kuala Lumpur. News Limited newspapers at the time said the faults included a galley that was so badly installed it was a fire risk and gave a flight attendant an electric shock.
“As with any maintenance undertaken overseas, it (the work) was carried out with the oversight of Qantas Australian engineers,” she said. A maintenance worker, who did not want to be named, said the noise from the plane’s undercarriage which led to today’s grounding could have been produced by a large flow of air through the faulty air-conditioning. A passenger said the plane was taxiing to the runway before it was turned around.
Maybe outsourcing maintenance for an airplane is not be the best idea.
The headline makes it sound like the 95 defects were identified BECAUSE they caused the flight to be aborted.
The two issues were completely separate. In a plane with hundreds of seats, finding 95 beat-to-death-by-passengers tray table defects might not be unusual.
The poor service that Quantas seems to be getting from their foreign crew is the better angle:
“Quantas flight aborted again; foreign maintenance fault possible.” would have been a better headline. It would have opened up past failures to similar outsourcing reliability issues.
Outsourcing risk and cost is all part of being a good corporation. Ditching airlines that treat customers like tenured commodities, is all part of being a good consumer. This is why free enterprise works.
u.s. airline management found a way to cut their cost of operation, and improve their bottom line, by eliminating ‘in-house’ aircraft maintenance.
airline management contracted with cheaper off-shore companies to perform periodic, and normal aircraft maintenance.
airlines were able to eliminate most of their FAA certified airframe and power plant mechanics, supervisory, and inspection personnel.
in the u.s., airlines are required by the FAA to hire only certified and licensed aircraft mechanics, supervisory, and inspection personnel, thus insuring that only certified and licensed workers are able to perform maintenance on aircraft operating in u.s. airspace and owned by u.s. corporations.
in the u.s. the FAA is the governmental regulatory agency that supervises and oversees all aircraft maintenance operating under u.s. ownership.
in the u.s. the FAA has the personnel to inspect most repairs, and that repairs are being done in accordance to FAA and aircraft manufacturers rules and regulations.
outsourced maintenance of aircraft is not under any direct control by FAA personnel.
workers who perform maintenance on u.s. aircraft do not have to be certified or licensed. The only certified or licensed maintenance personnel is the supervisor.
many outsourced workers are not able to read english, the language in which u.s. aircraft manufacturers publish aircraft repair manuals, issue service procedures, and issue repair bulletins.
a u.s. airline based in Minnesota recently had over 33 repair facilities in the u.s. to conduct maintenance on its aircraft.
the state of Minnesota recently constructed a huge repair facility in Duluth for this airline at taxpayer’s expense to keep aircraft maintenance in the state employing many well paid workers.
just before the airline was to begin occupancy of the facility, the airline notified state officials that it would no-longer need the facility, and fired most of its maintenance personnel, cut repair facilities in the u.s. to three, and outsourced the balance of its aircraft maintenance to foreign contract corporations.
minnesota taxpayers were left with a huge facility, built with their money, and no one to use or occupy the place.
most u.s. airlines also outsourced the major portion of their maintenance operations to reduce their maintenance expense in the u.s.
aircraft maintained outside the u.s. by unlicensed and poorly trained, or untrained personnel, are of questionable air-worthiness, and present another hazard to the flying public and their families in the u.s.
congress in the u.s. has looked the other way, and has failed the american people by insuring that americans flying in aircraft operated by american corporations is maintained and repaired in the u.s. by certified and licensed aircraft personnel.
Wow!
Outsourcing is not the issue. When I take my car in for servicing I am outsourcing. The difference between me and an airline is that I don’t go for bottom dollar. I’m after an honest, competent, timely service at a fair price.
As a rule, outsourcing is supposed to save a corporation money. How else could you justify it?
Price, therefore, becomes the overriding issue. Qantas may end up paying a very heavy price for outsourcing its’ aircraft maintenance.
The thing is, having gotten rid of their aircraft maintenance facilitlies, that took decades to build, they can’t just bring that stuff back in house. It will take decades to build up the expertise they threw away when they decided that Asian sweatshops could do it better and cheaper.
fatlh,j outsourced the uppercase letters on his keyboard and they have never worked since.
Dan
iNova it is QANTAS (all upper case please note fatlh,j) and there is no “U” as it doesn’t fit with “Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service”, which is the origin and name of the airline.
fatlh,j looks like from your post that you outsourced the servicing of your caps lock and shift keys and they has never worked since. 🙂
QANTAS has been getting a deserved drumming in the Aussie press for the shoddy way the airline is run these days. Hopefully the public complaints and media attention, will force Geoff Dixon to shut up about “shareholders” and remember airlines neeed things called “customers” more.