"This afternoon, the company flew engineers, tech crew
chiefs, and inspectors from its Tulsa maintenance base
to New York to evaluate the aircraft and determine the
next course of action to correct the problem. We are in
contact with the FAA. They are aware of our internal
review." Back in mid September American
Airlines had reported it would begin to
outsource its aircraft maintenance to China and
layoff more than 1,000 American maintenance workers.
American’s maintenance issues could not have come at a
worse time. Its pilots, maintenance personnel and others
have argued against this move sighting safety concerns.
Foreign maintenance facilities are not required to have
licensed mechanics nor required to do background checks
on their personnel. In addition the FAA does not make
spot checks and surprise inspections of these foreign
maintenance facilities which is a common occurrence at
U.S. maintenance facilities. In November
American Airlines filed for bankruptcy with over $2
billion in cash in its bank accounts. In January
American Airlines retained the service of Bain & Co.,
the consulting firm in which Mitt Romney worked before
co-founding his private equity firm Bain Capital.
A
spokesperson for the airline stated (referring to hiring
of Bain & Co) “This is a complex process and we
recognize that a successful reorganization requires the
assistance of a variety of professionals with
specialized expertise,” and described the cost of hiring
Bain as “a usual and necessary part of the Chapter 11
process. We will be reviewing these costs carefully to
ensure that they are monitored and managed
appropriately.”
Back in February American Airlines announced it intended
to cut its labor costs by 20%, eliminate 13,000 jobs,
replace its pension plans with 401(k) plans and end
company-paid retiree healthcare. When
American Airlines filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11
it then allowed the company the opportunity to reject
any of its employee’s prior collective bargaining
agreements under Chapter 11 section 1113 (11 U.S.C. §
1113).
|