FLOPS Maintenance Sucks

[Dep676]

Dash Trash
You realize it's not management's choice to raise healthcare costs. The entire healthcare system is a mess. Show me one company whose costs have gone down and/or benefits have gotten better. I too, don't welcome the increased cost of healthercare, but it's betteer than the alternative.
As far as no, or poor crew meals and poor hotels; can't you feed yourself? There are groucery stores all over the place. Do you think you deserve a catered meal like those who fly on these planes? And I don't think anyone should have to stay in a crappy hotel, but the pilots don't deserve to stay in 4+ star places either. You are not traveling for luxury, you are working.
Again, no KoolAide drinking here, just the facts.
Fozzy, fly my shiney jet? brag to the ladies? head in the sand? I can't relate to these things.
You anti-management pro union people sound just like all the lazy Auto workers and Airline mechanics that think management is out to get them and they want more money for less output because "the world ouws them". Look at the big 3 automakers-drained by leaching lazy employees ($60 an hour to build a crappy Chevy Monte Carlo) and can't make a quality product to support the company. Airline mechanics that won't do anything outside their job description for the good of the airplane which they are maintaning.
I'll stop sinking to this level now.

You are frickin idiot.

I can feed myself, yes. However when they are running you 14 hours with hour turns between flights, you do not have time to hardly take a piss.

Next hotels, nobody claims to be traveling for luxury. I do not know about you but I did not like to pull back the covers and see the curly hairs from the last dozen people that slept in the bed.

Now for insurance, nobody is saying that insurance has not gone up. The price they are making us pay is pretty darn close to 100% of the cost of the insurance. If you are really a pilot then go over to the 1108 board and see that the HR guy is getting pissed for people not taking the company insurance. Why do you think that is? I will tell, it is because they are going to be making a profit off us after Jan. 1st. There is no way that a company the size of Options, who is owned 100% by RTN, would need to pay over $400 a month per employee for insurance. Just ask MS what he is paying for insurance. I would bet he is on the RTN plan for $48 a month.

Lazy my A$$, then how come we are still flying 30+ hours a week? I would not call that lazy.

I would call you a complete idiot though, that has no clue what you are talking about.

So like someone else said you are probably not even a pilot, you are just some management puke that sucked their way to the top.

 

[skanza]

Wow. You guys are rough. I'm not a "managment puke", I'm not in management. I'm not hiding behind my computer any more or less than all of you are. (No names posted here).
I don't think that pilots don't deserve good things (food, hotels, rest time), they do, just not *the best* like we seem to be requesting.
Along with not being a company troll of management tool, I am one of those foreign-car-driving-npr-listening-to-can't-stand-pop-culture-authority-questioning-sick-or-others-trying to force thier opinion-or-sell me something- people that a lot of narcissistic people hate.
Peace folks.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Skanza, I'm tempted to ask if you find your life to be difficult...

If you do fly for FLOPS, do you see any erosion of the operations around you? Downgrades in hotels, mandatory vacations, rising health-insurance costs, etc? The FLOPS pilots I meet on the road mention these and other problems.

 

[netjetwife]

Skanza, frac pilots aren't requesting top of the line/luxury hotels or meals. What they must have to safely and efficiently do their jobs are secure rooms in restful surroundings and meals that are nutritional and tasty. This is clearly a situation of what is best for the pilot is also best for the company. Management may think they're saving money on hotel rooms but if the pilot was unable to get the sleep required (cheap rooms often have thin walls and noisy patrons... ) and is unable to fly, what was gained? Yes, they're working but none of the frac crews should be forced to stay in a location where there are security concerns, particularly as they required to come and go at all hours. The job comes with enough sacrifice and risk. Possibly being mugged in the parking lot of a 2 bit hotel should not be one of the factors.

Likewise, with the crew food. Look at it as fuel for the pilot. The less the pilot is distracted with wondering when and what the next meal will be, the more assured the company can be that all of the attention is focused on the job. Smart managers take good care of the workers that take care of the customers. In the case of pilots, mistakes at work can have dire consequences. Such a high level of responsibility merits professional compensation that includes food and lodging which contributes to the accomplishment of the task. Unfortunately, Options management is adding stress rather than relieving it; therefore, it falls to the pilots to get the company back on track. A contract that ends labor strife is the best way to do that. NJW

 

[RTRHD]

What they must have to safely and efficiently do their jobs are secure rooms in restful surroundings and meals that are nutritional and tasty.

I am behind you NJW!!!! It should also be next to Bazokas.

 

[skanza]

Nope. I don't find life difficult at all. Not what you mean Guitar Guy.
Yes, NJW, the strife should end. But at what cost? I'm not sure I have the answer. All violence aside, I consider the viewpoints that many of you have and I wish it were easy for everyone. But it's not. Let's hope the contract works out for everyone.
I don't know anything about an auto industry reference and what "Bobby" sadi. I've had that opinion for a long time.
"don't waste yor time with this guy"? who here is truthful about thier profile? That takes away from the whole "hinde behind the computer. Right?
And in reference to this thread title, does FLOPS MX really suck? They are better than getting the plane worked on by non-FO maintenance people. Those guys don't care about the equipment like the FO people do. Maybe some feel they are steered when writing something up, but that's illegal. I'd write what's broke, not what I'm "told" to write.

 

[FR8DOG777]

Skanza
I like how you have chosen to pick and choose to answer which questions that were directed at you. What has FLOPS done for you lately? What improvement have they made that directly affects the pilots? I thought it was humorous when you got anal-itis when you posed a question on this forum and you thought no one answered it. Then you received many answers and responses. My question still stands for you. What improvements has FLOPS had for the pilots? I don't believe you even work for the same FLOPS I work for. You must work for a different FLOPS. The industry leading FLOPS we all have been hearing about.

 

[FR8DOG777]

I can say that after the increase of insurance premiums being passed on to the maintenance employees, I can see an improvement to their work. I noticed the could care less how fast scheduling would like the plane released back into service. The plane gets released when it becomes fixed. I have also noticed a reduction of "could not duplicate" sign offs. I believe it is because the FLOPS mechanics are taking their time to diagnose and repair the planes properly without influence from scheduling. Also it may be the crews are writing the planes up more accurately for maintenance. Now if only we could get the planes to a maintenance facility instead of operating them with numerous MEL items and several of those bogus MDL items. MDL is just a fancy word meaning if it isn't on the MEL we will just use our MDL. I bet the MDL will change soon.

 

[netjetwife]

I don't know what "Bazokas" is, but I do know what it is to worry when my husband tells me that the hotel is too noisy for him to rest well. In a sense of community spirit I extend that concern to all pilots. If it takes pilots protesting loudly to get managers to focus on safety--so be it. Every frac pilot and family should thank those who speak up. Here's mine--thanks for helping to make the industry safer for all involved! Industry standards need to apply to lodging as well as wages.

Skanza, if the process of contract negotiations was an easy one the phrase "labor dispute" wouldn't be so common. You do seem interested in finding answers. I strongly recommend that you read a book that can shed a lot of light on the situation--Confessions of a Union Buster. It's the true story of a man that got rich destroying the efforts of workers to organize and acquire a contract. In the process, he lost his self-respect and didn't regain it until he confessed and began applying what he had learned to helping, instead of harming, others. What an eye-opener!

As to cost, management is wasting tons of money fighting the pilots instead of dealing with them fairly. Ford & Harrison are union busters. I'm sure their fees would enrage the pilots. An example of what the author charged in 1983--$1000--$1,500 a day per labor "adviser" on his team, lawyers were extra. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time seeing things from the viewpoint of a manager who throws money away instead of using it to solve the problem by giving the pilots a long-overdue raise. To add insult to injury, the only "raise" the pilots have seen, while F&H are raking in the dough, is an increase in their health insurance. When you read the inside story of how companies fight their workers it all becomes very clear. I think if you read the book you'll begin to understand why your fellow pilots are so disgusted.

 

[Dep676]

Nope. I don't find life difficult at all. Not what you mean Guitar Guy.
Yes, NJW, the strife should end. But at what cost? I'm not sure I have the answer. All violence aside, I consider the viewpoints that many of you have and I wish it were easy for everyone. But it's not. Let's hope the contract works out for everyone.
I don't know anything about an auto industry reference and what "Bobby" sadi. I've had that opinion for a long time.
"don't waste yor time with this guy"? who here is truthful about thier profile? That takes away from the whole "hinde behind the computer. Right?
And in reference to this thread title, does FLOPS MX really suck? They are better than getting the plane worked on by non-FO maintenance people. Those guys don't care about the equipment like the FO people do. Maybe some feel they are steered when writing something up, but that's illegal. I'd write what's broke, not what I'm "told" to write.

I can say for sure that FO mx does suck. How about picking a plane up in PBI and taking it out with 3 MEL's, that is just the beginning. Also that is after the plane had been in MX of at least 18 hours. Then we get to TEB, they do not fix but one of the MEL's and extend another that takes 30 minutes to fix. They had the plane at least 12 hours that night. We had to have them come out to re-fix something that they signed off as fixed. Meanwhile the pax are there waiting to go. We finally make it to MCC for more MX. They finally fix all the MEL's. We show up at 0530am and there is more wrong. I have a guy tell that is what a bad switch. The lead comes out and says what is the problem the light is out. I proceed to tell him that the other guy told it was a bad switch. The lead then tried to argue with me that the light was out and the door was closed. I told him that the last guy told me that the switch was bad. He finally agrees and says we will get you a new switch. So after he messes with the switch he says it is a fuse that was blown. He is changing that and here comes another MX guy and says "so this is the one he blew the fuse on purpose so they could get out of here". We confront him on it and he says he was only joking. Joking my A$$, that is funny when they replaced the fuse the light came back on and all the doors were closed. So that leads to the issue of they did not fix anything. Meanwhile all before that the first guy was telling the lead the light was flickering when he was messing wiht the switch. When in fact the light was never coming on because of the fuse being blown. All it turned out to be was the switch on the lav door needed to be adjusted.

So I disagree 100% that FO MX is good. I have been at other shops and they do not let it go until it is fixed.