Aug 27, 2016, 4:26 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
AA Aircraft "CATs and RATs" Technical "How does that work" thread
This thread is for asking or discussing miscellaneous technical questions relating to AA aircraft and flying, such as changing tires, auxiliary power units, engines, navigation, weather phenomena and how they're dealt with, NAVAIDS, FMCs, maintenance, etc.
See post #48 for American Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Procedures
Where AA performs maintenance:
Line and routine maintenance
DFW West receives new aircraft (other than 737s) for final preparation prior to entering service. Some other line maintenance is performed here; 777s can be seen parked there, and there are always aircraft parked in the hangars.
TUL M&E: Much of AA routine maintenance is performed at the AA Maintenance and Engineering facility at TUL, Tulsa, OK. The M&E base includes "22 buildings on the main base, with 3.3 million square feet (306,580m2) of hangar and shop space stretching across 33 acres (13ha). It employs 5,200 people (about 5% of AA’s ~100,000 workforce) work around-the-clock in three shifts at the base. In 2013 alone, the M&E Center paid over $48 million to its over 110 local suppliers; in 2014, it provided $419 million in wages and benefits to the region." (airways Magazine - link)
Historic aircraft maintained here included Convair 990; Boeing 720, 707, 727, 747; Fokker 100; Douglas DC-3, -4, -6 and -7; Lockheed L-188 Electra; McDonnell Douglas DC-10, MD-11. The 777 was maintained here 2008-2010. Current aircraft maintained here include Boeing 737, 757, 767; McDonnell Douglas MD-80. New 737s are intakes here as well.
Legacy US aircraft continue to be maintained at CLT and PIT.
Heavy maintenance/ overhaul:
AA was the last of U.S. based airlines that performed all of its heavy maintenance. That ended when AA announced the closure of its Alliance maintenance and repair facility at Ft. Worth, TX as announced 12 Sep 2012.
NBC - TV 5 link
Airbus: unsure, possibly VT MAE, BFM, Mobile, Alabama?
A320 family -
A330 family -
Boeing:
737 - Tulsa M&E (newer -800 heavy C 15 days, in three shifts, up to 10,000 man-hours*)
757 - TIMCO, Greensboro, NC, a division of Swire - HAECO Americas
767 - Tulsa M&E (heavy ‘C’ check every 72 months, requiring 22 to 30 days and 17,000 to 22,000 man-hours*)
787 - AA has an agreement with Boeing?
McDonnell Douglas
MD-80 - Tulsa M&E
*Airways magazine
Links to related threads:
Link to AA Cat II / III ILS approach - Autoland: Turn off all electronics
Link to Turbulence incidents, reports, discussion master thread
Link to Aborted landing / unexpected go-around experiences and discussion
Link to AA 17 emergency landing JFK 4 Jan 2016 (compressor stall - engine out)
Link to N386AA AA71 FRA-DFW lost an engine today [7 May 2015]
Link to AA992 CNF-MIA has a catastrophic engine failure soon after takeoff (Nov 2014)
AA Aircraft Technical, Mechanical etc. "ask" "how it works" (master thread)
Jun 9, 2016, 4:12 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2003
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Took AA 1227 on Sunday. . .
Anyway, e-mailed AA service and got a canned response that still had brackets in it. . .
Finally, today, after a back and forth email, I got a call from the rep I have been e-mailing basically saying that I'm entitled to my opinion but that no compensation is "due". . .
Anyway, e-mailed AA service and got a canned response that still had brackets in it. . .
Finally, today, after a back and forth email, I got a call from the rep I have been e-mailing basically saying that I'm entitled to my opinion but that no compensation is "due". . .
Jun 9, 2016, 6:15 pm
#20
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It seems that about a quarter of my flights over the past year have been on aircraft with broken APUs. You name the type. Some recent ones included a 3 year old 77W, 6 month old E175, 25 year old MD-88, 18 year old 757. You name it, they seem to fail all the time. Not sure why they're so unreliable.
Jun 9, 2016, 7:33 pm
#21
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This.
It seems that about a quarter of my flights over the past year have been on aircraft with broken APUs. You name the type. Some recent ones included a 3 year old 77W, 6 month old E175, 25 year old MD-88, 18 year old 757. You name it, they seem to fail all the time. Not sure why they're so unreliable.
It seems that about a quarter of my flights over the past year have been on aircraft with broken APUs. You name the type. Some recent ones included a 3 year old 77W, 6 month old E175, 25 year old MD-88, 18 year old 757. You name it, they seem to fail all the time. Not sure why they're so unreliable.
Broken engine... Not so much.
Jun 9, 2016, 8:01 pm
#23
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Jun 9, 2016, 8:34 pm
#24
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: CLT
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Took AA 1227 on Sunday, flight was delayed due to missing crew, etc. Once we finally boarded, the captain came on to announce that the Auxiliary Power Unit was not functioning and therefore there would be no ground Air Conditioning (it was about 90 degrees in the cabin approx) and that the plane engines would need to be jump started (sounds scary).
Anyway, e-mailed AA service and got a canned response that still had brackets in it, not even remotely addressing my concerns.
Finally, today, after a back and forth email, I got a call from the rep I have been e-mailing basically saying that I'm entitled to my opinion but that no compensation is "due". To me, this is the problem with AA, it's all about what is "due" and there is no goodwill to customers.
I assume that I am not a super highly valued customer, but I will probably hit Platinum this year and have been Gold for past two years and fly more often than not on paid domestic F.
Looking for feedback on how to handle this, if it should be escalated (primarily just due to the awful customer support), etc? Or, for the more frequent travelers out there, is this just way too petty?
I am MIA based, so not like I can switch easily.
Anyway, e-mailed AA service and got a canned response that still had brackets in it, not even remotely addressing my concerns.
Finally, today, after a back and forth email, I got a call from the rep I have been e-mailing basically saying that I'm entitled to my opinion but that no compensation is "due". To me, this is the problem with AA, it's all about what is "due" and there is no goodwill to customers.
I assume that I am not a super highly valued customer, but I will probably hit Platinum this year and have been Gold for past two years and fly more often than not on paid domestic F.
Looking for feedback on how to handle this, if it should be escalated (primarily just due to the awful customer support), etc? Or, for the more frequent travelers out there, is this just way too petty?
I am MIA based, so not like I can switch easily.
Jun 9, 2016, 10:41 pm
#25
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Jun 10, 2016, 9:43 am
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Miami
Posts: 138
Unsure, I didn't even really ask for anything in the original complaint. I guess I don't fly enough (probably at 30k BIS mile a year) to know that this is so common. I was much more mad about how the poorly the response was handled over e-mail (and when the email agent called to berate me about my opinions) than I was about no air conditioning. A simple "we strive to get this to work and were sorry it didn't, we're trying to make things better..." would probably have been fine. 1,000 miles (even 250), a free drink, just about anything which is what a normal company does to acknowledge customers. But like the agent told me, AA is now only about what is "due". Even GoGo gives you free internet passes when the WiFi is slow (which is every time).
Jun 10, 2016, 2:21 pm
#28
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No idea where OP was departing from because he didn't provide any details, but I presume that either the airport or the gate / jetway weren't equipped with ground air so it was either the APU or nothing.
It does su*k, but there really isn't anything to be done and it is far from an essential piece of equiptment. Those battery carts are just as safe as the APU (same thing really, just loaded on a cart rather than a built-in unit).
There is clearly no compensation due, so it's a question of whether a request for a customer service gesture is appropriate and here, AA, which can be a bit tight, said no.
Tossing a few miles at people to pacify them as DL does really doesn't do anything as it just expands the pool of miles out there without expanding the # of seats. Sooner or later people complain that they can't find seats or it hits a point where DL just "devalues" the miles so that the seats cost more.
It does su*k, but there really isn't anything to be done and it is far from an essential piece of equiptment. Those battery carts are just as safe as the APU (same thing really, just loaded on a cart rather than a built-in unit).
There is clearly no compensation due, so it's a question of whether a request for a customer service gesture is appropriate and here, AA, which can be a bit tight, said no.
Tossing a few miles at people to pacify them as DL does really doesn't do anything as it just expands the pool of miles out there without expanding the # of seats. Sooner or later people complain that they can't find seats or it hits a point where DL just "devalues" the miles so that the seats cost more.