United wants to cut labor costs by contracting aircraft maintenance By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY As United Airlines struggles to slash more than $2 billion a year in labor= =20 costs, it's planning major changes in an expense invisible to passengers=20 but dear to their hearts: the maintenance of its planes. United, the=20 biggest airline ever to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, employs= =20 12,000 mechanics at airports and maintenance stations nationwide and=20 operates aircraft-overhaul hangars in Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis,=20 Oakland and San Francisco. The carrier is on track to spend $2 billion this= =20 year on maintenance =97 for pay, facilities, parts and services. Although=20 United currently spends about 80% of its maintenance budget in-house, that= =20 could soon change. The airline wants to eliminate restrictions in its labor= =20 contract, freeing it to outsource more than the 20% of maintenance now=20 contracted out. The proposed changes also would allow United to send=20 regular maintenance work to foreign facilities and would allow the carrier= =20 to sell or lease repair facilities it no longer needs. The changes are=20 contained in an airline contract proposal made public by the mechanics'=20 union, the International Association of Machinists. United seeks union=20 approval for changes as part of the reorganization plan it will file with=20 the bankruptcy court. 'Thousands of jobs' "That rips out the heart and soul of our contract," says Tom Buffenbarger,= =20 IAM's national president . Michael Peat, IAM's flight safety director, says= =20 the mechanics expect United to double the amount of outsourced work. "We=20 anticipate perhaps thousands of mechanics getting laid off," he says. Peat= =20 says some or all of the engine-overhaul work might be outsourced to engine= =20 manufacturers. United officials declined comment, citing the sensitivity of= =20 ongoing concession talks with the IAM. The airline is expected to seek $1=20 billion to $2 billion over six years in contract concessions from the=20 mechanics union as part of its plan to emerge from Chapter 11 a healthier=20 carrier. Any agreement reached with union leaders has to go to mechanics=20 for a vote. If that fails, United could ask the court to let it impose= changes. Pay cut already rejected Before United filed for Chapter 11 on Dec. 9, mechanics rejected a 7% pay=20 cut. The airline's new proposal calls for a 13% cut. All major airlines use repair stations to supplement their staffs. Low-fare= =20 carrier Southwest Airlines, which has never had a fatal crash, contracts=20 out all its overhaul work. By law, the Federal Aviation Administration=20 holds outside contractors to the same safety standards as in-house=20 mechanics. And work by repair stations is subject to FAA inspection.=20 Airlines are required by law to perform two types of aircraft maintenance:= =20 "line" work on planes sitting at airport gates between flights; and "heavy"= =20 or overhaul maintenance on planes as they age. Large passenger jets can fly= =20 safely for decades with proper maintenance. Federal law requires airlines=20 to inspect and overhaul jets every so many flights or years. As safety=20 problems occur with parts on certain types of jets, the FAA issues=20 directives requiring airlines to make certain repairs within a deadline. Two weeks ago, the FAA proposed fining United $805,000 for questionable=20 repairs on three Boeing 757s. The FAA says United mechanics mistakenly used= =20 metal tape to fix holes in spoiler panels, which are wing extensions that=20 help slow the plane on landing. The government says United shouldn't have=20 flown the planes with that repair; United says passengers were never at=20 risk, and it plans to contest the fine. United's proposal to outsource more= =20 heavy maintenance troubles United mechanics, their union and some safety=20 experts. If United dramatically increases the work it outsources, that=20 could pressure other major carriers to do the same. Independent repair=20 stations save airlines money in part because many are non-union and tend to= =20 employ a lower percentage of federally licensed mechanics than airlines.=20 Repair stations are not required by law to have licensed mechanics working= =20 on planes, although licensed people must check and sign off work before a=20 jet returns to passenger service. "When you get into repair stations, pay=20 scales are different and the appeal is low cost," says John King, a safety= =20 advocate and former Eastern Air Lines mechanic. "If you are counting on a=20 group of licensed people to oversee people who aren't, it's not as good.=20 The problem is control." Up to 50% savings People inside the contract-maintenance industry say repair stations save=20 airlines 40% to 50% with comparable quality. TIMCO Aviation Services, a=20 Greensboro, N.C.-based company used by United and several other airlines,=20 is one of the larger such companies. It employs about 3,000 non-union=20 mechanics, pays lower wages than the airlines and operates facilities in=20 small Southern cities with low costs of living. "TIMCO has an excellent=20 quality record on par with the best airlines' maintenance practices,"=20 President Gil West says. In recent years, however, the quality of work by=20 some repair stations has come under fire, and airlines using them have been= =20 criticized for lax oversight. In 1998, Phoenix-based America West Airlines= =20 was fined a record $5 million by the FAA for violations related to its use= =20 of contractors. The FAA faulted sloppy procedures at contract maintenance=20 bases doing work on America West jets. The low-fare carrier had trimmed its= =20 staff of mechanics and contracted out much of its maintenance. Ultimately,= =20 $2.5 million of the fine was waived when America West changed contractors=20 and agreed to improvements. America West is now a TIMCO customer. United mechanics have complained about the quality and cost-effectiveness=20 of maintenance done by repair shops. Several months ago, IAM officials say,= =20 work done on a number of Boeing 737s under an FAA directive was done=20 incorrectly by TIMCO and had to be redone by United mechanics in=20 Indianapolis. TIMCO mechanics used supports made of the wrong material on=20 the front bulkhead that helps keep the plane pressurized during flight,=20 says Bill Austin, a mechanic and IAM safety chairman at United's=20 Indianapolis facility. "We ended up with three or four planes flying around= =20 for months with (the wrong) material," Austin says. TIMCO's West says use=20 of the wrong material posed no risk. "It wasn't a safety-of-flight issue,"= =20 he says. Austin says it could have been. The bulkhead, which sits in front= =20 of the cockpit, isn't as strong without the right supports, he says.=20 "Somebody didn't follow the book." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) : escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.tobagoweddings.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************