Qantas Decides Against Servicing 737s In Malaysia
Qantas has decided against sending two of its 737 planes to Malaysia for heavy maintenance work.The airline has been under scrutiny over the past few weeks after a series of incidents linked to the maintenance of its planes.
One Qantas plane sent overseas for maintenance reportedly returned with 95 defects, although Malaysia Airlines denies that was the case.
Qantas says both planes will now be serviced in Australia.
Paul Cousins from the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association has told ABC Radio's AM program that Qantas' decision to service the 737s in Australia is the right one.
"One of the critical factors of maintenance being performed is the number of licensed engineers, and in Australia that ratio is approximately one to one or two to one," he said.
"We find that the overseas facilities that ration could be as large as one licensed engineer to 10 unlicensed engineers." (ABC Online, Australia)
***** One cannot be sure if we're being used as the fall guy for Qantas' recent problems. But given our shabby maintenance culture the Aussies have probably figured it out correctly.
Labels: Malaysia Boleh
posted by The Malaysian. at 8/09/2008 11:00:00 AM
5 Comments:
Anonymous,
This is a set back for MAS who is aspiring to be a major maintenance centre. How can an aircraft has so many defects after a major check. What kind of supervision is carried out during the checks and what did the Qantas Engineers do while they were here overseeing the work being done. Sounds like they were enjoying the Anchor and Tiger beers more than signing of the check sheets.
MAS has all the necessary certifications from FAA and I am sure the Australian DCA approval before Qantas sends the aircraft here for maintenance. It should not be ruled out that Australians do not want the work to be out-sourced, so some defects could be blown out of proportion. MAS must take a positive steps to ensure such events does not happen again or the customers will have no confidence in MAS work. All the defects mentioned should be thoroughly investigated, and MAS must own up to what defects was caused by poor workmanship. QANTAS has really dragged down the name of MAS, don't give silly excuses get on and find out if the accusations has any truth.
Mana Ada Sistem
Don't be too quick to slam MAS engineering. To date our flag carrier has a respectable safety record.
Also, don't count out the Aussie unions who are trying to get jobs back to their more expensive, local cost structure.
Remember when the panel blew off the Qantas plane in Manila, they blamed MAS outsourcing. Only thing is MAS doesn't service Qantas' 747s.
It's plain Aussie badmouthing, IMO. They have a tendency to be very nasty when they feel insecure. Just look at the way the Telstra-Optus/Singtel war was conducted, or the Qantas-Singapore Airlines open skies saga. It was a strategic and business matter in these two cases but the Aussies brought in a lot of nasty remarks some of which are absolutely xenophobic.
- Abang Maimon.
Why should we blame MAS while the maintenance of this 737 was under supervision of Qantas’s personnel? Isn't it too early to say anything before the investigation of the incident completed?
Aviation insiders once told me MAS maintenance engineering was OK Average, but not excellent. Typical Bolehland "Boleh-Tahan" standard.
There may be an element of Qantas making excuses for taking their work back to Australia for political and Union relations purposes.
But you may want to know Qantas' safety and engineering is considered A++ in aviation circles.
Are you sure? Qantas has told that the air conditioning fault on QF850 is unrelated to the maintenance checks done in Malaysia ( http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24144727-26103,00.htm ). In fact, Qantas' decision not to send two of its 737-400 planes to Malaysia for heavy maintenance checks has already been conveyed to MAS weeks ago. And this decision was not due to quality problem but it's because there's space available for the work at its Tullamarine facility in Melbourne. Further, everything were rectified to the satisfaction of the Qantas team before the aircraft delivered to Australia. It’s obvious that there’s a baseless accusation towards MAS.. Moreover, don't forget MAS E&M is a certified approved MRO by both local and international aviation administration..
Post a Comment
<< Home