Mechanics Warn Air Travelers: United Airlines Outsources Maintenance to China

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Airline mechanics and supporters from the Teamsters union leafleted eight airports nationwide on Thursday. They alerted passengers to the airline's practice of outsourcing heavy maintenance of its airplanes to China.

The Teamsters, who are organizing mechanics from United , support them in their efforts to prevent the sale of the San Francisco aircraft maintenance operation. The mechanics believe that aviation safety is compromised by outsourcing maintenance.

United now outsources all of its heavy maintenance of Boeing 747s and 777s to South Korea and China. In the Beijing repair station, only five of 2,179 mechanics are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

On Thursday, the protesters stood near United counters at Boston Logan, Chicago O'Hare, Denver International, Los Angeles International, New York JFK, San Francisco International, Seattle Sea-Tac and Washington Dulles airports. They handed out leaflets stating "Passenger Alert: United Airplanes Repaired by Uncertified Mechanics in China."

"Outsourcing airplane maintenance threatens mechanics' jobs and it threatens passenger safety," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

The FAA does not require foreign companies to perform drug or criminal background checks on their employees. Foreign companies are also not required to employ FAA-certified mechanics.
A substantial majority of United mechanics have submitted cards requesting Teamster representation. The Teamsters are confident of winning an election to represent the mechanics within the next few months.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hard-working men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,246185.shtml

[babylonsister]

1. Lots of airlines do this, and not just to China. nt

[crikkett]

4. That would make a fascinating story: where did your airplane get repaired?

But this was just a press release.

[babylonsister]

5. My DH used to work in vendor maintenance for a major airline.

You'd be surprised what countries are involved in heavy checks and maintenance, and usually, they do a much more thorough job than you can find here in the US. This was years ago; it's the airline's decision AFAIK, not the government's. At that time American Airlines is one of the few that still did in-house maintenance as they had the facilities.

[Tesha]

2. Teamsters, ehh? Haven't they often endorsed Republicans (including Bush in 2000)?

Sucks to get what you want, ehh?

Tesha

[Purveyor]

6. I'm sure they have made some gop endorsements but they did endore Gore in 2000. eom

[Tesha]

8. My mistake. But the endorsement came late and after much to-ing and fro-ing.

Here's an article from before their eventual mid-September 2000 endorsement:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_2000_July_31/ai_63373182

Tesha

[AndyA]

3. Nice.

I really think Bush would outsource our government if there was a way for him to make a buck off of it. :(

[dmallind]

7. re the bolded part

Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne are NOT accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges like Yale and Harvard are!!