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Will Delta fix the maintenance problems that NWA has?

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Will Delta fix the maintenance problems that NWA has?

 
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Old May 6, 2009, 7:41 am
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Will Delta fix the maintenance problems that NWA has?

http://www.amtonline.com/article/art...2089&pageNum=1


Having an Aircraft Maintenance Certificate revoked would seem like a big deal, especially because every other legacy carrier has one and is able to keep it.

When you step on a Domestic NWA Domestic aircraft it's apparent that interior maintenance isn't a priority but apparently that problem included the mechanical aspect of the planes as well.

I'm hoping Delta can get these problems ironed out.
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Old May 6, 2009, 7:59 am
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Originally Posted by doug93063
http://www.amtonline.com/article/art...2089&pageNum=1


Having an Aircraft Maintenance Certificate revoked would seem like a big deal, especially because every other legacy carrier has one and is able to keep it.

When you step on a Domestic NWA Domestic aircraft it's apparent that interior maintenance isn't a priority but apparently that problem included the mechanical aspect of the planes as well.

I'm hoping Delta can get these problems ironed out.

Can anyone enlighten as to what a Part 145 Repair Station Certificate is and the significance of this action?

I'm confident that NWA has maintenance issues on its planes from time to time, but I have never had a NW flight that was delayed or canceled due to MX problems.

Note the quoted source in the article... a mechanic's union official complaining about not enough staffing.
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Old May 6, 2009, 8:02 am
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Are you aware this article appears to be almost a year old?

Updated: July 8th, 2008 05:26 PM EDT
Actually, this thread seems to indicate this news broke in 2006 ...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/north...intenance.html

I hope this thread won't spark the same tired debates we've seen too much of, since OP doesn't seem to have current information.
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Old May 6, 2009, 8:03 am
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Looking at the article - it seems this is old news from July 2008. Would be curious as to how it was resolved though.
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Old May 6, 2009, 8:06 am
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Please note that the entire article was written by the Union.

NW's operating certificate is being merged into DL's operating certificate in the next year.

The part 145 cert for NW's Op Cert was no longer necessary and therefore an unnecessary expense.

Union leaders are just angry that they will be losing their NW members soon (with new representation elections).
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Old May 6, 2009, 8:21 am
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This story is over three years old, originally published in February of 2006.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/busines...ertificate_to/

It seems the OP is just trying to stir up the dust, again, in the DL vs. NW battle.
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Old May 6, 2009, 8:27 am
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Originally Posted by SchmutzigMSP
This story is over three years old, originally published in February of 2006.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/busines...ertificate_to/

It seems the OP is just trying to stir up the dust, again, in the DL vs. NW battle.
It would appear so, wouldn't it?
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:07 am
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Yeah this is so old - it's before the AMFA strike!

For our DL people who don't know the history - AMFA represented all mechanics at NWA and was hell bent on a new contract that restored pay and benefit levels to pre 9/11. Their arrogant leaders refused to budge...

Meanwhile NWA management had, for at least a few years if not more, been planning to operate the airline through a AMFA strike - with replacement mechanics (management, third party, etc...) and used that as its biggest bargaining chip. The AMFA guys laughed...

When AMFA went on strike in the fall of 2006, NWA kicked its replacement mechanic plan into action and although there were some immediate hiccups - NWA continued operating. AMFA's arrogant leaders had assumed NWA would crumble without them; and they hadn't planned on every other union ignoring their strike (says something about AMFA when the pilots, IAM and even the hard-line AFA union for flight attendants ignored the strike).

AMFA continued the strike for months on end...NWA ended up operating a mechanics group of around 1,000 down from upwards of 5,000 before the strike. There's no specific number published but roughly 50% if not more of the current NWA mechanics are AMFA guys who crossed the picket line.

That said...in the early decade NWA had a proud mechanic operation doing most of the aircraft maintenance and engine work in house. That's all gone now...
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:17 am
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Originally Posted by doug93063
http://www.amtonline.com/article/art...2089&pageNum=1


Having an Aircraft Maintenance Certificate revoked would seem like a big deal, especially because every other legacy carrier has one and is able to keep it.

When you step on a Domestic NWA Domestic aircraft it's apparent that interior maintenance isn't a priority but apparently that problem included the mechanical aspect of the planes as well.

I'm hoping Delta can get these problems ironed out.
You must really have put some extra chains on your drag lines to come up with that one. Too bad you appear not to comprehend what it actually meant. The thread linked below is the original FT discussion. By the time that thread was started, most of NW's AMFA mechanics had been working as Wally World greeters for 5-6 months.

Schedule 145 certificates are for 3rd party maintenance facilities, e.g. repair work done for other Schedule 121 (scheduled airline service) operators.

Northwest allowed its 145 certificate to lapse because they were no longer doing repair work for other airlines. There was no longer any need for a 145 certificate. As far as I know, their last major customer was the previous incarnation of Sun Country. NW pulled the plug on Sun Country's maintenance when Sun Country decided to compete head to head with NW is several markets.

Maintenance on NW's own fleet is done under its 121 certificate.

Last edited by MikeMpls; May 6, 2009 at 9:31 am
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:34 am
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Originally Posted by SchmutzigMSP
This story is over three years old, originally published in February of 2006.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/busines...ertificate_to/

It seems the OP is just trying to stir up the dust, again, in the DL vs. NW battle.
Maintenance issues shouldn't be taken lightly. When the FAA pulls a maintenance certificate this is serious business.

It doesn't surprise me though that you would want to highjack this thread and take it in another direction. You are one of the most devout Delta complainers here and if a thread isn't serving that purpose I wouldn't expect you to find it useful. Maybe we should all go back to talking about insignificant award change fees, would that make you feel better?
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:40 am
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Originally Posted by doug93063
Maintenance issues shouldn't be taken lightly. When the FAA pulls a maintenance certificate this is serious business.

It doesn't surprise me though that you would want to highjack this thread and take it in another direction. You are one of the most devout Delta complainers here and if a thread isn't serving that purpose I wouldn't expect you to find it useful. Maybe we should all go back to talking about insignificant award change fees, would that make you feel better?
Excuse me? Taken it in an other direction? I pointed out that your claims were from something over three years old. You're stirring up dust on purpose and you know it.

What would make me feel better is if people researched their claims before they recklessly post online, and if they lay off the personal attacks.

This thread deserves to be locked. It's pointless and the OP appears to want to pick a fight, again. I'm not having any part of it.
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:46 am
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From a Dec., 2005, article on airline maintenance at roughly the same time, Delta didn't have a schedule 145 certificate either:
Not everyone agrees. Tony Charaf, Delta Air Lines' senior vice president of technical operations, said that a verifiable FAA A&P license is all that Delta requires for its line maintenance contractors doing on-call service.

"With on-call line maintenance, we do not use FAR Part 145 vendors, because there is a very complicated process of approvals, tracking and auditing involved in working with them," he explained. "The FAA (A&P) licensing system is straightforward and ensures compliance in all cases with little difficulty."
So the question for our well-informed OP becomes, when will Delta fix its own maintenance issues? Obviously they must not be qualified to perform maintance!

Originally Posted by doug93063
.. . When the FAA pulls a maintenance certificate...
The FAA didn't pull it. NW returned it because they were no longer doing any schedule 145 repair work.

Last edited by MikeMpls; May 6, 2009 at 9:53 am
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Old May 6, 2009, 9:53 am
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Originally Posted by MikeMpls
From a Dec., 2005, article on airline maintenance at roughly the same time, Delta didn't have a schedule 145 certificate either:
Not everyone agrees. Tony Charaf, Delta Air Lines' senior vice president of technical operations, said that a verifiable FAA A&P license is all that Delta requires for its line maintenance contractors doing on-call service.

"With on-call line maintenance, we do not use FAR Part 145 vendors, because there is a very complicated process of approvals, tracking and auditing involved in working with them," he explained. "The FAA (A&P) licensing system is straightforward and ensures compliance in all cases with little difficulty."
So the question for our well-informed OP becomes, when will Delta fix its own maintenance issues? Obviously they must not be qualified to perform maintance!



The FAA didn't pull it. NW returned it because their were no longer doing an schedule 145 repair work.
You're misstating what the article says, shocking.

Delta does not require the certificate from their vendors. One of the reasons they can do this is because they have the certificate themselves and supervise their vendors work. Delta had, has, and maintains their certification.
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Old May 6, 2009, 10:09 am
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Originally Posted by doug93063
You're misstating what the article says, shocking.

Delta does not require the certificate from their vendors. One of the reasons they can do this is because they have the certificate themselves and supervise their vendors work. Delta had, has, and maintains their certification.
But they don't need it for their own work. Delta Tech Ops does 3rd-party work for other airlines. That is is the only reason they have have a schedule 145 certificate.

Any vendors' work on Delta aircraft is supervised under their 121 certificate.

Keep digging, China is getting closer.

Assuming all this hoopla were actually meaningful (which it isn't), what use would Delta have for a NW 145 certificate? If they're working on a 737 owned by Brand X, would their repair karma double?

Last edited by MikeMpls; May 6, 2009 at 10:19 am
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Old May 6, 2009, 10:17 am
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Originally Posted by SchmutzigMSP
This story is over three years old, originally published in February of 2006.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/busines...ertificate_to/

It seems the OP is just trying to stir up the dust, again, in the DL vs. NW battle.
Totally agree with you. It's not necessary at all. I think most of us have recently grown a bit weary of all the stuff that had been going on here before the Mods made their statement. To the OP, did you not realize this story is over 3 years old? It served no useful purpose to start a thread based on this old story. This thread will go nowhere useful, and I agree with someone else's suggestion that it should be locked.
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