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Alaska rampers in the news AGAIN!!!

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can I believe this?

Now I do not want to start a flame war here, but I am hearing rumors about how AS could potentially be fined some $500,000 for flying without emergency lights on a 737 for a serious period of time. And to top it off apparently AS was told about this and continued to fly anyhow! This can't be true! Is it?

Andy
 
xanderman said:
Now I do not want to start a flame war here, but I am hearing rumors about how AS could potentially be fined some $500,000 for flying without emergency lights on a 737 for a serious period of time. And to top it off apparently AS was told about this and continued to fly anyhow! This can't be true! Is it?

Andy
Click to expand...

If true it would seem that no one learned anything from the jackscrew incident.
 
emerg exit lights

The story we are being told is that in late 2004 / early 2005, we flew a B737-200 for a while without fully functional emergency exit lights.

The aircraft returned to us from a Heavy Check (outsourced maintenance) with a portion of the lights either not working or not properly installed. After a while (days, weeks?) one of our mechanics noticed the problem. Our mechanics made a repair, but apparently used the wrong parts (battery pack I think), and the aircraft flew for several more days until the problem was found again and corrected for good.

That old battery pack emergency exit lighting system has been removed from all our airplanes now. We have gone to the slightly radioactive glow in the dark tape stuck to the carpet. The old battery system was always, and I do mean always, breaking down on the 200. The mechanics use to cuss it daily.

So, who pays the fine? Does outsourced maintenance for not doing their job? They sent us back an unairworthy aircraft after we paid them good money for a heavy check. Or is the responsibility all Alaska's because our inspectors looked over the airplane after it was returned to us from this heavy check and signed it off as good to go?

I should have gone to law school. The lawyers are the only ones who are going to make money in this type of deal. It always baffles me when I see what the FAA thinks is important. Did we intentionally fly an airplane with the wrong serial number on a emergency lighting system batter pack? No. Did any harm come of it? No. Was the problem corrected. Yes. Well, we still want to punish you to the tune of 500K just because we can. Like any airline has 500K to throw away right now... Then they pat themselves on the back, feeling like they accomplished something important today.

I had a fed in the jump a few weeks ago who had this check list. He went down this list, checking manuals, checking jepp revision dates, even checking the number of batteries in my flashlight. I passed, but I felt like I just got out of a proctologists office. Was any of the stuff he was looking at really that important? I could have made the flight from BET to ANC without any of the stuff he was looking at - none of it really mattered in my world of safely going from A to B - but to this fed, that stuff was immeasurably important. The FAA is completely out of touch with the reality of flying and operating an airline.
I feel better now...
Be safe out there, and make sure your pubs are current and your flashlight works!
AK737FO
 
As bad as the cabin lighting issue is, it is not on par with the jack screw of 261. It is a serious safety viololation, but not the same. BF Goodrich installed the lights wrong and the company continued to operate the a/c knowing they were in violation. This is because we do not have the a/c or crews to operate our current schedule. Thanks to the Ayerhead management team.

I am not defending these idiots, nor their actions. I think what is happening to this airline is horrible and will not change until there is a complete change in management. I would love to see a vote of no confidence for the BOD and CEO. Flush KF and all the paper pushers on the second floor. Hire Bethune. But he would not come here, he is making too much on the lecture circuit.

Until that happens, it will be business as usual. Our contract will be violated every day because KF does not stop it. We had 10 grievances filed in one day, two weekends ago for the same thing. Misconnects. Management will continue to out source positions within the company that do not require special and specific training or a licence. I hope someone wakes up and realizes this was a huge mistake and at least hires our own rampers again. Until that happens, it won't get any better.

Just remember, Menzies is just another word for SCAB.
 
I would like to add one more item for discussion. In a recent meeting between Ayer, KF and the MEC officers about all these ramp problems. Ayer asked why the pilots were still upset. It has been more than six months since Kasher.
 
I am not sure what the F/A preflight involves but I believe it includes the emergency lights. If so, how was the problem missed during all those preflights?
 
lumax said:
I am not sure what the F/A preflight involves but I believe it includes the emergency lights. If so, how was the problem missed during all those preflights?
Click to expand...

Perhaps the lights in question were the emergency lights on the outside of the aircraft. Those are the ones that provide some illumination to help the sharks find you in the event of a water landing at night.
 
"She's now taking only Tucker because she thinks he's too heavy to be thrown."

LOL, that's pragmatism for you.

Yet little stuff like this can really become a PR nightmare. I'm willing to bet that on some American Kennel Club messageboard people are organizing a boycott over this deal. Animal lovers don't mess around.
 
I bet we lose our ability to sponsor the Iditarod...But seriously this is a PR mess and I don't think it will be the last of bad news at Alaska...

My big question is what is the air group going to do with Horizon?
When do the pilots renegotiate? When do they outsource the rampers? I'm interested in how all this will play out because I don't know how the air group will continue to function with two pilot groups pi$$ed off. Every Horizon guy I've talked to has told me they took the Kastration personally as we did and they see themselves as managements next target.

I don't like where the air group is headed, and I think management has no concept of the magnitude of problems within the group. There needs to be a change...
 
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I couldn't begin to tell you how many feds I've had in my jumpseat but I can tell you I've never seen one with a checklist. And how many batteries am I supposed to have in my flashlight?

Gup
 
I don't even know if legally he has the right to inspect your flashlight...Report that to the TSA and they'll file a grievence faster than Ted Kennedy can down a bottle of hootch! But what do I know, I'm just a pilot...

I guess the Feds can't use their FAA ID's as primary ID's in security because TSA feels intimidated by this...
 
BORAT said:
I bet we lose our ability to sponsor the Iditarod...But seriously this is a PR mess and I don't think it will be the last of bad news at Alaska...

My big question is what is the air group going to do with Horizon?
When do the pilots renegotiate? When do they outsource the rampers? I'm interested in how all this will play out because I don't know how the air group will continue to function with two pilot groups pi$$ed off. Every Horizon guy I've talked to has told me they took the Kastration personally as we did and they see themselves as managements next target.

I don't like where the air group is headed, and I think management has no concept of the magnitude of problems within the group. There needs to be a change...
Click to expand...
QX's contract is amendable this year. We have Kasher in mind but unlike the AS pilot group, we have no binding arbitration clause in our contract. We can negotiate till the cows come home. And we ain't taking a pay cut. Not after all this money were making now. Not with 12 airframes on order. Not after the mechanics and dispatchers just ratified their contracts and they got no paycuts. (No hefty raise either but the point is no 30% cut for them so they sure as he!! ain't getting it out of us)

If management wants to start cutting back salaries, they need to start at the ops center in Portland. A list of some jobs & departments (straight from the phonebook) that are unnecessary include....


Pilot Payroll (Yes a completly seperate payroll dept. in PDX just for pilots. I always ask, why can't payroll in SEA do that job??)
Inflight Payroll Analyst (F/A payroll dept. see above)
Pilot Special Project (You need to hold this job for 2 years before you get to be a ACP)
Special Projects (???)
Inflight Coordinator (Coordinating what I don't know. Whatever it is, make a "manager" do it)
Lost Duty Desk (I don't even know what the he!! this is)
5 (Yes five) chief pilots in PDX alone
Leave & Disability Administrator (HR can do this)
Training Records Coordinator (I count at least 6 desks in that office which can be cut back to at least 4)
Specialist/ Flt Ops (Specialist for what exactly?)
Safety & Health Coordinator (HR can do this too)
Asst to Director of Trng (If wer're so strapped for cash like mgmt claims then he can do his own work)
Pass Bureau in PDX (Ask any QX pilot about the quality of service)
And this list goes on and on and on......

I ain't taking a paycut spike.....
 
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