Airlines Outsourcing Repairs: (which may not get done correctly)

[amborin]

"Shortly before sunrise on Jan. 23, 2009, passengers on US Airways Flight 518, who were flying from Omaha to Phoenix, were startled by a terrifying shriek.
The pressure seal around the main cabin door was failing, and that shriek was the sound of air leaking through. The plane diverted to Denver. Everybody was safe.

But that and other recent malfunctions affecting US Airways planes, which NPR is reporting for the first time, raise questions about a controversial and growing practice at most U.S. airlines: The industry is sending 1 of every 5 planes to developing countries, from Central America to Asia, when the planes need to be overhauled and repaired.

In the weeks before the door seal started to fail, US Airways had sent that Boeing 737 to be overhauled at Aeroman, a repair company in El Salvador. And mechanics installed a key part on the door — a "snubber" — backward.
"

snip

"Since the airline crisis hit seven years ago, the statistics have flip-flopped: The industry is now sending most of its planes to be overhauled and fixed at private repair shops both in the U.S. and overseas. And roughly 20 percent of planes are going to facilities in developing countries, according to industry surveys.

Industry analysts say there are roughly 700 FAA-approved repair companies in other countries — including repair shops in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Kenya, China and Indonesia. The Aeroman company in El Salvador is becoming one of the more popular, drawing business from US Airways, JetBlue, Frontier, Southwest and other U.S. carriers. "

snip

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113877784&f=100&sc=yfp>

[Aviation Pro]

1. Been going on for years....

....don't get me started.

[amborin]

2. yep

but it seems more carriers are doing it now

i remember when Alaska was criticized for doing this, in the seattle papers...

[Sherman A1]

4. Precisely

I think this started back in the 1980's if I recall correctly, but I may be wrong on that.

[uppityperson]

5. esp US Air or many others?

I read enough about USAir that I won't fly them. Are others as bad?

[1]

3. you should edit out the "(which may not get done correctly)" from your subject line...

there is no guarantee that any maintenance is going to be "done correctly". there were no maintenance problems ever before private repair shops started doing the work? really? ever? you believe that?

and

that phrase seems a bit racist. only americans can do it correctly? is that what you really mean to say?

[dmallind]

6. Racism on DU is a weird concept.

Any phrase that includes any word that even sounds racially insensitive, or any visual joke that can be stretched to breaking point to imply stereotyping minorities, is proof positive that the guilty poster is a KKK member, and yet it's not only OK to suggest that Chinese or Indian workers and companies are by definition sloppy, ineffective, and produce terrible quality - it's a sign of being a right wing corporatist (whatever that means - certainly not the actual definition of the word) tool if you suggest that in some cases they might be competent.

[1]

7. that! or it could be just racist...