Motorblog

More Airline Issues (Continued)

More on the airline issues and how people tend to subconciously avoid reliability and maintenance issues in general.  Final installment.  By Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP

Editorial Part 2: Aircraft Issues Continued

Wake Up!

I wrote the beginning of this newsletter last weekend before American Airlines and Delta cancelled flights for maintenance inspection reasons.  I am predicting that things will get more interesting, but only if you are paying attention!  As it is, the FAA now says that they will stop spot checks on Friday, March 28, 2008, to reduce the inconvenience to passengers!  Yes, they will stop spot checks on safety inspections that airlines have ignored, checks that may save lives, because it is ‘inconvenient.’

What I find particularly interesting is that if the delays, cancellations, and stranded passengers related to events outside of the airlines’ control, it would make the front page!  Yet we are dealing with life-safety related inspections – or the lack of – and the news is BURIED!  The general public does not seem interested.

In the past I have stated that people are interested in WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) > Yet, here we are!  What greater WIIFM than your safety?  Yet, I have observed this phenomenon following a maintenance cancellation or delay for flights I have been on.  On the aircraft, the captain would make an announcement related to the maintenance issue that caused the delay or cancellation.  By the time we are off the flight, people are talking about how the weather, or some other issue, delayed the flight!

Even recently, on a flight from Chicago during bad weather.  United had brought a broken plane up to the terminal.  The captain was angry, made the announcement, and hung around the waiting area answering technical questions.  However, shortly after he left, people were talking about the weather again.  Are we at that level of denial?

As I was writing these comments, a newscast came on talking about the wire harness issue with the MD-80, which the reason that prompted the over 400 American Airlines and over 275 Delta cancellations yesterday and today.  A reporter demonstrated the wire harness, showed the issue, then the anchor stated what a small percentage of aircraft were effected (1/7 American Airlines aircraft and ¼ Delta aircraft).  As if this were an isolated incident!  Yet we have now seen multiple airlines that were caught as they work to avoid problems with FAA spot checks and audits of different types.  This is the tip of the iceberg as companies do their best to reduce costs by shaving everywhere, including life-safety inspections!  So… the problem is identified and downplayed in a 45 second (yes, I timed it) piece on the news.

However, we are watching as the airlines are about to be excused because their poor decision-making is now inconveniencing people and it is impacting their bottom line.  Yet, this problem would not exist if only they took the time to perform the REQUIRED REGULATED and SAFETY INSPECTIONS in the first place.  I have to fly on these things, and I am feeling less inclined to do so as I am exposed to more!  It appears that the items I have identified in my newsletters of the past are only a drop in the bucket.

We also see the same level of denial in business.  Unless you are directly in the reliability and maintenance organization, and sometimes if you are, maintenance is an area to cut costs.  For example, a majority of plants that have been closed down in the automotive and other industries are closed because it costs too much to produce product, or due to the quality of the product.  In a majority of the cases, these facilities are closed because the maintenance costs and impacts (high facility costs, low quality) have skyrocketed.  I see over and over again, the reduction of a few hours of maintenance end up costing a company $Millions in production when the equipment fails unexpectedly.

Sincerely,

President, SUCCESS by DESIGN
Executive Director, Institute of Electrical Motor Diagnostics, Inc.

Member: National Writers Union (UAW 1981) and International Federation of Journalists

Author: “Physical Asset Management for the Executive (Caution: Don’t Read This If You Are On An Airplane)” and “Electrical Motor Diagnostics: 2nd Edition”