They just told one of the Union's Board of Directors he is to report for a hearing on "abuse of sick leave". He is recovering from radiation treatment for CANCER. Great employee relations, AA. How much do you pay for that?
AA is alleging that pilots are "slowing down" the operation for "last minute" frivolous maintenance issues. Now bear in mind, that pilots are licensed by the FAA and the FAA just fined American Airlines for multiple maintenance related safety violations. See here:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=45&articleid=20120808_45_E1_DALLAS933913
Largest two fines in aviation history totalling $186 million:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/08/business/la-fi-amr-fine-20120808
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/08/faa-fines-american-airlines-24m-for-safety-lapses-/109648/1
And letter from FAA to pilots:
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/faa-to-american-airlines-pilots-yes-were-watching.html/
Now bear in mind, pilots do NOT GET PAID (even after contract abrogation where you'd logically think the Fair Labor standards Act would apply--yes that is correct, the FLSA doesn't apply specifically to pilots) while they are inspecting the aircraft, nor do they get paid IF THERE IS A MAINTENANCE ISSUE MAKING THE PLANE LATE OR INOPERABLE (they only get paid if the aircraft is moving except when it is getting deiced now that their contract has been abrogated by the bankruptcy court). But they WILL LOSE THEIR LICENSE (AND THEIR LIVELIHOOD, POSSIBLY FOREVER) if they miss an item making the aircraft unsafe. Bear in mind the FAA is all over the place and they must exercise great care in not making mistakes. Not just for the passengers, but also for themselves.
One of the issues that management keeps mentioning is "coffee pot" issues. If the coffee pots don't work properly, leaks can occur that can interfere with proper operation of the flight, preventing safe egress at a minimum. Consider this incident investigation for a Qantas flight: A water leak in the galley of a Qantas 747 knocked out 3 of the 4 on-board power systems including all AC-powered systems, as the plane was on descent 25 kilometres from Bangkok airport, leaving pilots just minutes to land on battery power. Investigators found that if the flooding had occurred more than 30 minutes' flying time from an airport or had there been a delay in landing, it would have placed the plane carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew "at considerable risk" as more systems were likely to fail and the leak had already knocked out power to radar, cabin pressurisation, autopilot, auto-throttle and some fuel pumps as the plane descended from 21,000 feet and passed through 10,000 feet. Investigators found that the batteries, which were designed to last a minimum of 30 minutes before depletion, had been running for 21 minutes when the aircraft landed and taxied to the terminal building.
American Airlines has made serious cuts in both maintenance personnel and also has sold off spare parts in recent years to cut "costs" in its maintenance division courtesy of "Barbeque Bob" Redding, who aptly received his name from pilots because of maintenance deferrals which caused several airplanes to catch fire or have serious in flight issues which were averted only because of the skill of American Airlines pilots.
Pilots are the last line of defense in the checks they make prior to departing on any flight. FAA mandates that ANY discrepancy be written up and dealt with prior to departing on any flight. Basically, the company is alleging that there is a problem if the pilots are "not looking the other way".
Here are the procedures from the flight manual:
General Operating Procedures 5.3-3
Flight Manual Part I
5.3.6 Responsibility
A. The Captain is responsible for all flight crewmember entries in the E6 logbook. Refer to the E-6 LOGBOOK ENTRY GUIDE in the front of the logbook for helpful guidance. The Captain may delegate writing entries in the E6 logbook, but no entry may be made without the Captain's prior knowledge and approval.
B. All discrepancies discovered by the flight crew will be entered in the E6 logbook by the flight crew whenever possible. The Captain will sign the logbook with name and employee number after the last discrepancy entered, regardless of whether the flight is a through flight or terminating flight. If no discrepancies are to be reported on leaving the aircraft, the Captain will enter No Items followed by name and employee number.
I have recently looked at the companies numbers for sick usage and there was a 4.94% sick as of 18 Sept 2011 and 7.46% as of 18 Sept 2012, and this is for the OLDEST group of pilots EVER in the history of aviation. Some of whom may have sped up surgeries or other issues, knowing full well the company may cancel their health insurance once the contract was abrogated by the bankruptcy judge. Now would you want to fly with a pilot that didn't have enough financial sense to handle a surgery now when his insurance might be cancelled in the next few weeks or his sick leave balance cleaned out completely under the blessings of a bankruptcy court?
Please support the pilots rights to protect themselves and you the flying passenger by supporting their rights to make sure everything is safe both with the aircraft and with their fitness to fly (which is also mandated by the FAA).
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