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Off Topic -- United Airlines Maintenance

They are plugged because they could be turned into an emergency door if need be. If a plane is over 200 souls, that door would be needed so they make it with the opening and either plug it or put an emergency door on it.

And I apologize for knowing this. Air Disasters on the Smithsonian channel is a guilty pleasure.
Well, these planes do not need those doors so they should be pretty damned secure.

Turns out this plane had a depressurization warning a few weeks ago and was restricted routes. It was on taken off the route to Hawaii because they wouldn’t allow it to fly over water.
 
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Well, these planes do need those doors so they should be pretty damned secure.

Turns out this plane had a depressurization warning a few weeks ago and was restricted routes. It was taken off the route to Hawaii because they wouldn’t allow it to fly over water.
Just to be clear, these planes "Don't" need these doors. The only time they need them is if they alter the seating to go over 200 passengers. I can only imagine that this would be due to eliminating first class, at least. And that entire reconfiguration would be far more work than unplugging these "just in case" emergency exit doors.
 
Just to be clear, these planes "Don't" need these doors. The only time they need them is if they alter the seating to go over 200 passengers. I can only imagine that this would be due to eliminating first class, at least. And that entire reconfiguration would be far more work than unplugging these "just in case" emergency exit doors.
Exactly. They could be very well secured. If needed in the future it would be after a major rehab/refit do they could be altered then.
 
B-52 Bombers are flying safely (almost entirely without issue) and they are over twice that old.

Aircraft in USA and Europe are not pretty well maintained, they are incredibly well maintained.

Aviations safe yet record over past 40 years are many orders of magnitude better than any other industry.

Head of FAA once showed me records that if flight safety today was equal to 1970s, we would have a loss of life accident weekly.

Nothing is 100% safe. But suggest there are many, many things to worry about before aviation.
Here is an article from the WSJ that states that although aviation is safe, there has been some deterioration in the last several years. When I went to it, it wasn't pay walled. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlin...r-burns-air-travels-rough-2024-start-c90e97de
 
Well, these planes do need those doors so they should be pretty damned secure.

Turns out this plane had a depressurization warning a few weeks ago and was restricted routes. It was on taken off the route to Hawaii because they wouldn’t allow it to fly over water.

 
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yeah...my first question is why are these doors there? the second question is "Who's guidance is being used to secure these things: United or Boeing?" My third question is asking about other airlines. As I understand it, United is the largest investor in the MAX with over 100 of them in the air. But what about the others? CBS says only SW and United fly them in the USA.

I know that they've canceled a lot of flights. I am not flying this week but my daughter is in Orlando and there was at least one flight to Orlando canceled today.

I am willing to bet this is an easy fix but the certification of the "fix" may take some time. As I understand it, the door was put in there in case they want to expand the plane to accommodate more passengers. Governments, worldwide, have guidelines that you have to have so many exits for x number of passengers. But at this point, I can't imagine a few spot welds and some gorilla glue would do the trick.
Boeing. Lack of quality control. Alaska and United order them without the door and this is how Boeing delivers them.
 
Thanks very much for your inside knowledge. I knew when I posted on this board that very knowledgeable air traffic people would be on this football board and would probably comment.
Absolutely - dailybuck77.

And you are seeing that system at work right now w/737 Max, Alaska Air, etc.

Worked with these folks for over a quarter century. Just the best in the business - any business. I’d trust them without condition. There is very little margin for error for an aircraft to get off the ground. Hence the mfg quality and regulation must be and is air tight. In USA and Europe - it is.
 
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Here is an article from the WSJ that states that although aviation is safe, there has been some deterioration in the last several years. When I went to it, it wasn't pay walled. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlin...r-burns-air-travels-rough-2024-start-c90e97de
I will check it out. I hate to say it, but I fear some DEI could have leached into the system. There is no margin for anything but the best - the very best.

And before anyone jumps to ‘racist’ - I can tell you that is nonsense. I have been honored to work with all on the basis of expertise. And that includes, without consideration, women and men of many nationalities, etc.

Just the best industry in the world and one where USA is still a clear #1.
 
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Absolutely - dailybuck77.

And you are seeing that system at work right now w/737 Max, Alaska Air, etc.

Worked with these folks for over a quarter century. Just the best in the business - any business. I’d trust them without condition. There is very little margin for error for an aircraft to get off the ground. Hence the mfg quality and regulation must be and is air tight. In USA and Europe - it is.

Sounds nice, but they sent the plane up even though they knew there was a problem. Who's checking and verifying things are being done properly?
 
I will check it out. I hate to say it, but I fear some DEI could have leached into the system. There is no margin for anything best the very best.

And before anyone jumps to ‘racist’ - I can tell you that is nonsense. I have been honored to work with all on the basis of expertise. And that includes, without consideration, women and men of many nationalities, etc.

Just the best industry in the world and one where USA is still a clear #1.

One of the experts cited in the harrowing article linked below believes the evidence points toward a "quality-control issue" at the Kansas company where the fuselage is manufactured.

It's very fortunate somebody wasn't horrifically killed when the plane suddenly depressurized. The vacuum created was strong enough to suck a passenger's shirt right off his back.

Anyway, the company in question, Spirit AeroSystems, was found to be responsible for a "stream of various defects" in the MAX fuselages it built in 2023...leading to the firing of the company's CEO.

Spirit Aerosystems is all in on DEI...as are many companies these days. To be clear, there is zero evidence of a connection between the company's enthusiasm for DEI and the incident in question...and nobody will be in a hurry to find such a connection.

Still, when you're hiring or promoting for anything other than excellence and competence, you're asking for trouble...especially in businesses and professions where lives are on the line.

 
Sounds nice, but they sent the plane up even though they knew there was a problem. Who's checking and verifying things are being done properly?
To be clear, the aircraft in question was dispatched with a pressurization issue unrelated to the plug failure. The 737 has three, independent , pressurization controllers; two automatic and one manual. If one automatic controller fails, the aircraft may, and frequently will be, dispatched with one operable auto controller.
 
I agree 100%. And I also lost my 1k in 2024. I don't like SW boarding and they are no longer cheaper anyway. American is a mess. Alaska doesn't fly my routes. The cheap airlines are awful. That leaves United and Delta.

I honestly think United is on par. i get great service as a million miler. I have lots of friends that fly Delta and complain just as much. ATL is a horrible airport in the summer for delays. My biggest beef is that the previous CEO, Smisek, thought they were going to have to compete with the cheap airlines. So he negotiated lower airport fees and got the worst terminals in just about every airport. its always seems to be the longest walk or the last terminal to have been remodeled. But the employees and flight product have been fine. I should add I don't fly internationally very much and that is the only time I would depend on an airline meal. United's food stinks.

Same, I fly United as Newark is infinitely easier to fly out of for me thank JFK. I haven't had many problems, but yeah, the food sucks but who flys for the meal.
 
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I fly a lot and have to use Philly Airport (ARGH) and thus American and I can say I prefer Airbus's which American has a ton of to Boeing - They seem to have more legroom and recently less problems.
 
To be clear, the aircraft in question was dispatched with a pressurization issue unrelated to the plug failure. The 737 has three, independent , pressurization controllers; two automatic and one manual. If one automatic controller fails, the aircraft may, and frequently will be, dispatched with one operable auto controller.
Not so sure. The plane had three different warnings. It appears they never figured out the full cause. Perhaps that plug was leaking and they never discovered it.
 
I fly a lot and have to use Philly Airport (ARGH) and thus American and I can say I prefer Airbus's which American has a ton of to Boeing - They seem to have more legroom and recently less problems.
Leg room is determined by the carrier as they order specific layouts. They minimize leg room to get maximum passenger capacity.
 
To be clear, the aircraft in question was dispatched with a pressurization issue unrelated to the plug failure. The 737 has three, independent , pressurization controllers; two automatic and one manual. If one automatic controller fails, the aircraft may, and frequently will be, dispatched with one operable auto controller.

They limited its operation and still sent it out.
 
Leg room is determined by the carrier as they order specific layouts. They minimize leg room to get maximum passenger capacity.
True...but there are subtle differences in the Boeing and Airbus interiors that force differences from model to model. I preface this to say that almost all of my experience is on United and not the other carriers.

I agree with the poster: the airbus has a slightly better leg room. But what I really notice is that the Boeing plane's at-home position is so upright it is uncomfortable. The Airbus planes are much better in the at-home position.
 
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Boeing CEO Calhoun to be on CNBC today at 1PM. Should be interesting.

We are committed... Boeing is safe... Boeing makes great product... Trusted to work with government... If he gets anything other than softball questions I will be surprised.

The whole new 737 program has produced one cluster**** of a plane, and the government regulators tasked with safety continue to rubber stamp it.
 
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Not so sure. The plane had three different warnings. It appears they never figured out the full cause. Perhaps that plug was leaking and they never discovered it.
The plug may very well have been leaking, but the pressurization controller is unrelated.

Having said that, I just read that the pressurization controller issues began the day after the jet departed Oklahoma where it was fitted with satellite receivers for internet connectivity.
 
We are committed... Boeing is safe... Boeing makes great product... Trusted to work with government... If he gets anything other than softball questions I will be surprised.

The whole new 737 program has produced one cluster**** of a plane, and the government regulators tasked with safety continue to rubber stamp it.
Unfortunately, the 737 program is not “new”. Boeing, in large part due to pressure by Southwest Airlines, hasn’t had a cleansheet, narrow body redesign in decades. The result is the 737Max which is indeed a disaster. Ironically enough, Boeing is currently trying to gloss over issues with the 737-700max deicing system. Southwest has hundreds of these on order.
 
Dear God. Preliminary results from post-incident safety checks of the 737 MAX's found "loose bolts" on the plug doors of five separate aircraft. Link below.

To me, this would seem to suggest systematic negligence in workmanship at the Kansas plant and in inspections after the fuselages were delivered. It makes you wonder what else might be "loose" on these planes.

It brings to mind something that happened to me many years ago after the tires on my car were rotated during routine maintenance. When I got on the highway, something didn't "feel" right so I pulled over and discovered several lug nuts had not been properly tightened.

It's a simple thing...tightening bolts. Again, thank heavens nobody was sitting right next to that door plug...or for that matter that it didn't hit something important on the exterior of the plane when it blew off.

 
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The plug may very well have been leaking, but the pressurization controller is unrelated.

Having said that, I just read that the pressurization controller issues began the day after the jet departed Oklahoma where it was fitted with satellite receivers for internet connectivity.

Or, it could be that work left an additional small leak that finally overwhelmed the controller, or it could be entirely unrelated, or... None of those parts of the plane fell off. In my experience with accident investigations it is very rarely one thing, and often warning signs of danger are not acted on.
 
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Unfortunately, the 737 program is not “new”. Boeing, in large part due to pressure by Southwest Airlines, hasn’t had a cleansheet, narrow body redesign in decades. The result is the 737Max which is indeed a disaster. Ironically enough, Boeing is currently trying to gloss over issues with the 737-700max deicing system. Southwest has hundreds of these on order.

I understand from a regulatory perspective in order to bypass a lot of reviews it's not considered a new design, but from a design perspective it's about as "clean sheet" as it gets with all new materials of construction, controls, interfaces, software, production techniques, etc.
 
I understand from a regulatory perspective in order to bypass a lot of reviews it's not considered a new design, but from a design perspective it's about as "clean sheet" as it gets with all new materials of construction, controls, interfaces, software, production techniques, etc.
I agree with you, but what Boeing elected to do was keep the original basic design, stretch the fuselage, change he position of the engines, add software to correct pitch issue, lengthen the nose gear etc.

most pilot I know would say that a redesign of he 757 would have been preferable to the 737.
 
Sounds nice, but they sent the plane up even though they knew there was a problem. Who's checking and verifying things are being done properly?
I don’t know the details of this specific situation and would caution anyone to await the facts (hint: media hype is not the facts)z

Who checking and certifying ? The best of the very best.

And numbers are the numbers and they are unequivocal by many, many orders if magnitude.
 
I will check it out. I hate to say it, but I fear some DEI could have leached into the system. There is no margin for anything best the very best.

And before anyone jumps to ‘racist’ - I can tell you that is nonsense. I have been honored to work with all on the basis of expertise. And that includes, without consideration, women and men of many nationalities, etc.

Just the best industry in the world and one where USA is still a clear #1.
Found this today (not good, needs to be corrected)
 
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One of the experts cited in the harrowing article linked below believes the evidence points toward a "quality-control issue" at the Kansas company where the fuselage is manufactured.

It's very fortunate somebody wasn't horrifically killed when the plane suddenly depressurized. The vacuum created was strong enough to suck a passenger's shirt right off his back.

Anyway, the company in question, Spirit AeroSystems, was found to be responsible for a "stream of various defects" in the MAX fuselages it built in 2023...leading to the firing of the company's CEO.

Spirit Aerosystems is all in on DEI...as are many companies these days. To be clear, there is zero evidence of a connection between the company's enthusiasm for DEI and the incident in question...and nobody will be in a hurry to find such a connection.

Still, when you're hiring or promoting for anything other than excellence and competence, you're asking for trouble...especially in businesses and professions where lives are on the line.

I have worked with the Spirit folks for many years - terrific company. But not in last 8 years - so certainly things could have gone down hill.

DEI is what may place us behind the Chinese (who, trust me, could care less about it) - if and when they are running the show.
 
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With all due respect, this thread has gotten out of line. There is zero evidence that this was caused by DEI. In my experience, DEI is a loser of money but that's about it. If minorities don't cut it, they are quickly shuffled off to other things. But most, once properly prepared and trained, do just fine. But it is costing a ton of money and overhead
 
With all due respect, this thread has gotten out of line. There is zero evidence that this was caused by DEI. In my experience, DEI is a loser of money but that's about it. If minorities don't cut it, they are quickly shuffled off to other things. But most, once properly prepared and trained, do just fine. But it is costing a ton of money and overhead
It’s more than a loser of money. It can be a loser of competence and reputation for airlines. If you’re hiring based upon skin color and sexuality it’s fair to question if proper attention is being placed on high priority issues such as safety.
 
With all due respect, this thread has gotten out of line. There is zero evidence that this was caused by DEI. In my experience, DEI is a loser of money but that's about it. If minorities don't cut it, they are quickly shuffled off to other things. But most, once properly prepared and trained, do just fine. But it is costing a ton of money and overhead
The problem is that a standard of “most do just fine” will get people killed when flying an airplane. Competence has to be the only standard in that situation.
 
The problem is that a standard of “most do just fine” will get people killed when flying an airplane. Competence has to be the only standard in that situation.
OK...but there is no evidence that this has been caused by these programs nor is there any evidence that it has eroded safety. I have a friend who flies 777's for United and another that flies 737s for SW. Both are concerned about their company's initiatives (due to costs and overhead) but have told me that they won't be flying planes if they don't pass several checkpoints. No way that these airlines are going to risk millions in equipment and billions in shareholder value plus hundreds of lives.

Bottom line is that this isn't the place for a robust DEI discussion.
 
With all due respect, this thread has gotten out of line. There is zero evidence that this was caused by DEI. In my experience, DEI is a loser of money but that's about it. If minorities don't cut it, they are quickly shuffled off to other things. But most, once properly prepared and trained, do just fine. But it is costing a ton of money and overhead

Point taken, Obli, and I said in my initial post above that there is no evidence to draw a connection between the DEI programs of these companies -- by the way, Spirit AeroSpace's is quite robust...see the company video embedded in the link below -- and the incident in question.

And nobody, least of all the government, would have any interest in finding such a connection, were one to exist.

That said, bigger picture, there is considerable evidence that over-the-top DEI initiatives throughout the business, professional, and academic world, to include professions where lives are on the line, wrongly prioritize DEI considerations over the standards of qualification, experience, and competence that once prevailed back when the world was sane.

Therefore, it is by no means crazy or out of bounds to have some concerns about all this and wonder about the possibly wide range of impacts of these programs...to include impacts that the media has no interest in exploring.

The hard fact is, the mindless and constant mantra that "diversity is our strength" is going to get somebody killed one day...and probably already has.

 
Point taken, Obli, and I said in my initial post above that there is no evidence to draw a connection between the DEI programs of these companies -- by the way, Spirit AeroSpace's is quite robust...see the company video embedded in the link below -- and the incident in question.

And nobody, least of all the government, would have any interest in finding such a connection, were one to exist.

That said, bigger picture, there is considerable evidence that over-the-top DEI initiatives throughout the business, professional, and academic world, to include professions where lives are on the line, wrongly prioritize DEI considerations over the standards of qualification, experience, and competence that once prevailed back when the world was sane.

Therefore, it is by no means crazy or out of bounds to have some concerns about all this and wonder about the possibly wide range of impacts of these programs...to include impacts that the media has no interest in exploring.

The hard fact is, the mindless and constant mantra that "diversity is our strength" is going to get somebody killed one day...and probably already has.

fair enough. I just felt the thread had gone off the rails. There are those that don't appreciate it and that is why there are robust conversations on such things on the other board.
 
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