Seats Coming Off Tracks On Two American Airlines Boeing 757's

Passenger seats come loose on an American Airlines flight

(AP Photo/WBZ-TV/WFXT-TV)

What is with full seat sections coming off track after an aircraft has come out of maintenance?

Well American Airlines has been having it's fair share of issues as of late. Two separate incidents of full seat sections becoming dislodged or flat out coming out of the seat tracks while the aircraft is performing a live revenue flight is not a good thing. American Airlines said that improperly installed clamps caused seats to become loose on two planes during flights. Later inspections of Boeing B-757's by American discovered that other planes had similar issues that needed to be fixed. 

"American Airlines said that improperly installed clamps caused seats to pop loose on two planes during flights and an inspection turned up four others with the same problem. The airline said Tuesday that it inspected and fixed the seats on 36 of its Boeing 757 jets and planned to check 11 other planes."
(Read Full Story Here)

American has been going through labor issues with the possibility of merger talks with US Airways looming in their rear view mirror.

Pilots have been accused of writing up more maintenance issues than normal as a form of work slow down which is not unheard of in the airline world. Everything from flying faster and burning up more fuel to knit picking mechanical problems in a station where contract maintenance is the only available support at an inflated cost. Timco Aviation Services and American crews might have installed the seats incorrectly as stated by David L. Campbell, the airline's vice president of safety. Only further investigations of their past work on the aircraft will reveal if this is a isolated incident from a particular maintenance station or is this something more sinister. (Like a work slowdown to get managements attention.)

So is contract maintenance a good or bad thing here in this case? It's a part of the industry that airlines just can't get around do to cost and practicality so it's some what of a necessary evil depending on who you talk to. During my flying days I have seen and used contract maintenance in out-stations and it was not a choice in the matter depending on the severity of the problem. Some days the problem was fixed and we blasted off but other times we cancelled and mechanics from our airline were flown to us and the problem was fixed by company mechanics. However when you have flights outside the U.S. you sometimes have to trust what and who you get if you want to get the passengers on their way.

Labor issues can be a very volatile aspect in a negotiation when the work groups have this ability to affect the operation so directly. It happens and it will continue forever but hopefully not at the cost of passenger safety. This incident definitely scared some people and it does make them (the passengers) aware of any internal issues at any given airline. No airline is exempt from this, it's just a part of doing business. Hopefully this is the last of such incident but I doubt it!

Passengers should watch the news to see what's going on with the airline they are planning to fly to see if there is anything they should be concerned with especially when it comes to labor or union issues. Not just the pilots can slow things down but flight attendants or ground agents can cause delays and or cancellations too! So don't think for one minute that the agents loading the bags or the crew members serving the drinks can't cause a stir. Pilots are just usually the ones who can have the fastest affect on flight operations that make management stand up and take notice. Now I'm not saying it's right but it can be effective in a stalled labor negotiation.

So I hope in the near future this is a thing of the past and not the precursor to what is yet to come. Good luck American Airlines!

"Be Proactive Not Reactive And Enjoy Your Flight!!!"

BlkAv8tor2003

Nursing mom files complaint against airlines

By Emily Bazar and Sam Hemingway, USA TODAY
A clash between a nursing mother and a flight attendant has sparked a discrimination complaint,
an airline investigation and a grass-roots protest.

Emily Gillette, her husband, Brad; and their then 22-month-old daughter, River,
were removed from an Oct. 13 flight from Burlington, Vt., to New York after a flight attendant asked Gillette to cover up while she was breast-feeding the girl. Freedom Airlines operated the Delta Air Lines flight.

Photo: Emily Gillette was asked to leave a Delta flight after breast-feeding and refusing to cover-up her daughter River, who was 22 months old when the incident occurred.

Gillette, 27, filed a complaint against both airlines last week with the Vermont Human Rights Commission alleging that the airline violated a state law that allows women to breast-feed
"in any place of public accommodation." The airlines have until Nov. 27 to respond,
Gillette's attorney, Elizabeth Boepple, says.

In a show of support, about 30 mothers and fathers and dozens of children staged a "nurse-in"
protest at Burlington International Airport on Wednesday.
"I've always nursed my children when I'm on a plane," says Carolyn Beer, 34, of Burlington.
"Their ears hurt with the altitude change, and it's a strange environment for them. The alternative is to let your kid scream."

The Gillettes, of Espanola, N.M., boarded the flight shortly before 10 p.m.
They had been in Vermont visiting friends and were headed to New York to see other friends and Emily Gillette's sister. Gillette took the window seat in the second-to-last row, she says, and her husband took the aisle.

She began nursing River, using one hand to hold her shirt closed. She says: "I was not exposed."
But the flight attendant approached, tried to hand her a blanket and asked her to cover herself, she recalls. "You're offending me," Gillette quotes the woman as saying.
"I'm not doing anything wrong and I will not cover up," Gillette says she said in response.
Spokesmen for the airlines declined to discuss specifics of the incident.

The flight attendant walked away, Gillette says, and a few minutes later,
a ticket agent boarded and said the flight attendant had ordered them removed.
The airline arranged for a hotel for the family for the night and a flight with a different airline the next morning, but Gillette wasn't satisfied.

"No woman should ever be ashamed of breast-feeding," she says.
She wants "both airlines to create policies that protect a woman from being harassed
for feeding her child on an airplane."

Delta is working with Freedom on an investigation, Delta spokesman Anthony Black says.
"Delta supports a mother's right to breast-feed-slash-bottle-feed her babies on our aircraft," he says. Freedom spokesman Paul Skellon says breast-feeding on a plane is OK if it's done in a "discreet way."

Forty-three states have some form of legislation protecting a woman's right to breast-feed,
according to Mary Lofton, spokeswoman for La Leche League International,
a group that encourages breast-feeding. Lofton says the league has had a growing number of contacts from women who say they were harassed for breast-feeding on planes.

Sharon Panitch, 37, a massage therapist who organized the Burlington nurse-in,
says people who object are "hypocritical." "We just want to take care of our children," Panitch says.

Woman Accidentally Smothers Infant on Transatlantic Flight

British media sources report that late last month, a woman who fell asleep while breastfeeding her infant accidentally smothered her four-week old child while on a United Airlines flight.

United Airlines B777-222 wearing the Oscar's logo up front

United Airlines flight 982 was a 777 en route from Washington Dulles to Kuwait City, and somewhere over the Atlantic, she reportedly awoke to find that her child had been smothered. The crew was alerted by to the situation by the screams of the 29-year-old mother.

A doctor traveling on the flight treated the baby, and the aircraft diverted to London's Heathrow airport, landing on the morning of November 25th. The baby was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

An autopsy has been performed and the authorities are awaiting results. At present, the death is considered to be from unexplained causes, and police and the Child Abuse Investigation Team are investigating the circumstances of the death.

http://www.airsafenews.com/2009/12/woman-accidentally-smothers-infant-on.html

Indian passengers avoid flying Air France to avoid discrimination at Paris (Flying While Brown)

Hello All BlkAv8tor2003 Checking In!!!

Well here is another story that we may start to see on a reoccurring basis. Here in the U.S. as an African American and as of recent if your Mexican especially here in the border states to Mexico you understand and know the term "racial profiling." Blacks in America have always been subject to racial profiling or better known as "D.W.B." or "Driving While Black" and now the latest change in the terminology here in Arizona especially we are now hearing the term refered to as "Driving While Brown" and it is usually directed at or referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Well here is my addition to the english vernacular, "F.W.B" or "Flying While Brown!" Indian passengers were poorly treated by Air France and by the loop holes of the securities and immagration rules, these passengers were denied food, water (until a protest started), and hotel accomodations that the airline was at fault for. AF025 had some type of mechanical problem with the aircraft and it delayed the flight and caused passengers to miss their flight.

It is looking like as tensions grow more volitale in India, I think we will see more transgretions towards people from India if the situations in India and relationships with other countries if relationships don't get any better.

People of color already understand this type of discrimination here in the U.S. and now it looks like that same type of discrimination is moving abroad!

Remember, Be Proactive, Not Reactive and Don't Be A Victim!!!

BlkAv8tor2003

(read the story below)

Indian passengers complain of discrimination by Air FranceMumbai A fortnight after over 50 Indian passengers alleged they were victims of racial profiling while flying Air France, ten Indians, travelling by the same airline, met a similar fate when they were stranded for an entire night in a Paris airport lounge.



The Indians, flying to Mumbai from Washington via Paris, complained that they were confined to the lounge on Monday with just some water and a sandwich after their plane reached Paris late from Washington and they could not board the connecting flight to Mumbai.

The passengers of the flight AF025 alleged that while they had to remain at the airport, people with American passports were given transit visas, provided accommodation and taken care of.
Complaining of discrimination and insensitivity towards them, a passenger Gwyneth Alphonso said, “We were not put on the immediate connecting flight on the same day. We were told that we have to just adjust within the environment. (Those) who held American passports were given visas and accommodation and were taken care of. But we who had Indian passports were the only ones to be denied any kind of help at that place”.

The passengers said the airline extended an apology to the passengers through an SMS.
Over 50 Indian passengers had on May 12 accused Air France of ‘racial’ profiling at Paris airport where they were stuck while in transit after their aircraft developed a technical problem, a charge denied by the airline.

The passengers said their plane had left Washington three hours behind schedule due to a technical problem and that they had barely 20 minutes in hand after arrival in Paris to take their connecting flight to Mumbai. They said they just could not make it to the connecting flight.
Another passenger Jagdish Patankar, who had to spent the night in the ’sanitised’ area at the airport, said, “It shows total insensitivity towards the incidence. For six hours, we were in that area. We were provided with water, were not provided with juice or food or anything. We were all there just stranded.”

The passengers said they were finally put on a flight to Mumbai after they protested.


Narrating the latest ordeal, Jagdish Patankar, 47, said:


"We boarded flight AF-025 on May 24 at 6:45pm at Dulles Airport in Washington. But the pilot said the flight had developed a snag and we were deplaned."
It took the airline three hours to rectify the snag. The flight with 174 passengers on board finally took off at 9:45pm (7:15am IST), said Patankar, managing director of a Worli-based event management company, MM Activ.
The flight landed at de Gaulle Airport at 10:20am (1:50pm IST) on May 25, but the Indians missed their 10:45am (2:15pm IST) connecting flights to Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. "Our troubles began soon after," Patankar said.

The airline, he said, told the passengers that the next connecting flight to Mumbai was 24 hours later and they would have to spend the night at the airport. "While our European co-passengers were given hotel accommodation, the airline said the police had denied transit visas to Indians," said Gwyneth Alphonso, 39, another Indian who got stuck in Paris.

No airline official attended to them from 11am (2.30pm IST) to 3 pm (6.30 pm IST) and they had to go without food and water, the Indians said. "It was clearly discrimination against us as Europeans were treated well and we were left to wait at the airport," she alleged.
"There was a cafeteria, but we needed to clear security checks to go there.


Since our passports and visas were with the airline, we couldn't even buy food," Alphonso said. Among the passengers were a diabetic, Dr P Mathew Varghese, and a 65-year-old woman with her 15-month-old granddaughter. "We literally begged for chocolates and other eatables from international passengers who were passing by to get something for Dr Varghese and the baby," Alphonso said.
The Indians then ran out of patience and protested, forcing the airline to give them a 200ml water bottle and half-a-sandwich each.

"We demanded that the airline put us on the next connecting flight to Dubai," Patankar said. Air France put them on flight AF-530 from Paris to Dubai, which was to leave at 11:20pm (2:50pm IST).
"Even this flight had a technical snag and left an hour late. But we reached Dubai around 8:52am local time (10:52am IST), just in time to catch the Emirates EK-506 Dubai-Mumbai flight," Patankar said.
Other Indians took flights to Bangalore and Delhi. Some of the passengers landed at Mumbai airport at 2pm on May 26 but without their baggage. "I got my luggage on May 27, but certain items were missing," Patankar said.

When contacted, an Air France spokesperson blamed the trouble on visa formalities imposed by the French police but said none of the Indian passengers had to spend the night at Paris airport. The spokesperson, in an emailed statement, promised to investigate the matter and try and improve transit procedures at de Gaulle Airport.
(Original Story)
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/air-france-passengers-stranded-paris-again-762

American to hike fees, cut flights, trim staff

BlkAv8tor2003 Checkin' In!!!

Hello All, you see what's going on? I told you it's going to start happening, airlines are going to charge you for everything under the sun when you fly. Check your bags with FedEx or UPS, it's going to better for you in the long run. Cost is in your favor for the most part, security, and getting your piece delivered where you want. You can even track your piece well before you even depart and if for any reason your piece gets delayed or missed your already on top of it in advance. I would say if your a business traveler use this service with a little caution because of the short on advance notice. If you know far enough ahead you can go with the professional shipping companies if your very sure the travel plans aren't going to change. Business travelers I'm not a business traveler where I had to fill out expense reports but if anyone could give me some in-sight on if you could write this cost off or business expense it and or report a cost savings on paper to your company? Be proactive because the less you have to deal with when it comes to the airlines the better off the trip will be...at least things the airline can control!!!

Have A Good Trip!!!

BlkAv8tor2003

12:36 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 21, 2008

By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA-TV



Michael Ainsworth / DMNAll luggage will be subject to a surcharge starting next month.


Brad Hawkins reports
05/21/08
STORY: AA adds $25 fee for extra bag
LINK: American Airlines baggage information

FORT WORTH — American Airlines, hit hard by escalating fuel prices, said Wednesday passengers will be hit with fees to check any bag, starting with tickets purchased after June 15.
American and its American Eagle subsidiary will also trim their fleets, cut their flight schedules and lay off workers in the coming months.
Speaking at the annual meeting of AMR Corporation, the parent company of both airlines, chairman, president and CEO Gerard Arpey said travelers would face a $15 charge for the first piece of luggage checked, the first time any major domestic airline has used this method to increase revenue.
Delta doesn't plan to match American's fee for the first checked bag, airline spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.
What's your view?

"These are difficult but necessary steps," Arpey said, noting that rising oil prices have inflated the airline's annual fuel costs by nearly $3 billiion since the start of the year.
American recently instituted a $25 fee for second bags checked after a free first bag. Arpey said other passenger fees will be increased, including surcharges for pets and for unaccompanied minors.
Also on Wednesday, Arpey said AMR planned to cut its domestic capacity by up to 12 percent by retiring 40 to 45 American Airlines jets and 30 to 35 American Eagle aircraft starting in the fourth quarter. Some of the planes will be retired; others will be parked at a desert storage facility.
Arpey said fewer flights will lead to job cuts at both American and American Eagle. The number of workers facing layoffs was not announced.
AMR shares tumbled $1.10, or 13.4 percent, to $7.10 after the announcement which came as its shareholders gathered for their annual meeting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Qantas jet lands with gaping hole

Jul. 25, 2008 08:00 AMAssociated Press

MANILA, Philippines - A hole the size of a small car in the underside of a Quantus jumbo jet carrying 346 passengers over the South China Sea forced the pilot to make an emergency landing Friday after a rapid descent.

The Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 29,000 feet when a loud bang rattled the plane. Video shot by a passenger shows people sitting with their oxygen masks on as the jet descended quickly to 10,000 feet. Applause erupted as the plane touched down safely.
There were no injuries, but some passengers vomited after disembarking, said Octavio Lina, Manila International Airport Authority deputy manager for operations.
OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1')

Flight QF 30, from London to Melbourne, had just made a stopover in Hong Kong.
"One hour into the flight there was a big bang, then the plane started going down," passenger Marina Scaffidi, 39, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press by phone from Manila airport. "There was wind swirling around the plane and some condensation."

She said the hole extended from the cargo hold into the passenger cabin.
"No one was very hysterical," she said.
June Kane of Melbourne described how parts of the plane's interior broke apart in the depressurized cabin.

"There was a terrific boom and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," she told Australia's ABC Radio. "It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm."

A report by the Manila International Airport Authority, quoting pilot John Francis Bartels, said the plane suffered an "explosive decompression." Australia's air-safety investigator said an initial investigation suggested "a section of the fuselage separated."
Lina said the cabin's floor gave way, exposing some of the cargo beneath and part of the ceiling collapsed.

"There is a big hole on the right side near the wing," he said, adding it was 71/2 feet to 9 feet in diameter.
Bob Vandel, executive vice president of the independent, Virginia-based Flight Safety Foundation, said the hole caused the plane to lose pressure and oxygen, which required the pilot to start a quick, initial descent to normalize oxygen levels, said Vandel.

"The plane lost pressure, so the pilot had to get the aircraft down below 12,000 feet pretty quickly," said Vandel.
The video shot by a passenger showed people sitting with their oxygen masks on - just-served meals on their tray tables. Cabin crew continued to work, walking down the aisles and showing no sign of panic.
Geoff Dixon, the chief executive officer of Qantas, praised the pilots and the rest of the 19-person crew for how they handled the incident.
"This was a highly unusual situation and our crew responded with the professionalism that Qantas is known for," he said.

Qantas - Australia's largest domestic and international airline - boasts a strong safety record and has never lost a jet to an accident, although there were crashes of smaller planes, the last in 1951.
However, the airline has had a few scares in recent years. In February 2008, a Qantas 717 with 84 passengers on board sustained substantial damage in a heavy landing in Darwin, Australia.

In addition, union engineers - who have held several strikes this year to demand pay raises - say that safety is being compromised by low wages and overtime work.
The passengers were taken to several hotels while waiting for another plane to Melbourne late Friday, Wantas said. The plane was towed to a hangar in Manila.

Chief Superintendent Atilano Morada, head of the police Aviation Security Group, said his officers, including explosives experts, may assist in the airline's investigation.
"So far, they don't want us to touch it, so we will respect the aircraft owner. But we will make our personnel available if they need assistance in the investigation," he said.
Qantas touts itself as the world's second-oldest airline, founded in 1920.

As of December 2007, Qantas was operating 216 aircraft flying to 140 destinations in 37 countries, though in recent months it has announced it will retire some aircraft and cancel some routes - as well as cutting 1,500 jobs worldwide - due to skyrocketing fuel prices.

Airline Travel...What You Really Need To Know!!!

"BlkAv8tor Checking In!!!"

Hello to all, I'm the BlkAv8tor and I'm a career airline and aviation industry professional!

Coming from someone who has worked almost every position in the airline industry the traveler today needs to slim his travel weight as much as possible. Now not including the hardcore business traveler people need to start truly planning their trips before they leave to go to the airport. Excess and overweight baggage charges, blankets, food and entertainment are many variables that if people would really plan ahead they could be charged less or next to nothing by becoming a savvy flyer.

Buy your food you will like before you go to the airport (security hasn't been taking peoples food yet that I heard of)

Ship your bags to your destination before you leave and have a SMALL carry on with basics in case of delays and cancellations,

Blankets??? Carry your own sheet because you washed it and you know where it's been and most airline blankets are sheet thin anyway and will roll up into a small square...Just a few things for passengers to do that they can control.

Assume your going to be delayed and or have your flight get cancelled...don't assume your going to show up at the airport, walk in, board the plane, fly and land on time...it happens less and less everyday. Give yourself something to do and depend on the airline for anything.

Parents be smart when traveling with your kids. Pack them a back pack of toys, books, snacks, video games, DVD's etc. You ask why I say this....You would be surprised how many people who get up in the morning to take a trip with the family forget as soon as they get in the terminal that they have kids. Then they wonder why the kids act the way they do on the plane...sheer boredom after the first 30 minutes or so has passed. Bring kids a map of the route of flight and see if they can follow it while in flight (weather permitting).

Have a back up plan in your route of flight even though you have paid for tickets to go one way. That way you’re not held to go that way when delays and cancels happen.

Don't wait for the customer service agents to tell you what is going on with your flight. The very basics are available to you before you get to the airport or if your online. I track my friends when they travel and they call me to find out delays and problems in the US before they even go to the airport so "they are informed about their flight" when they get to the airport and not waiting for the CSR for the airline to inform them of something.

Sit in the boarding area as close to the departure podium and between the boarding door so you can hear second hand conversations by the employees. They talk and they will discuss flight ops before telling the passengers something and even a minute of heads up on a cancellation could mean a call to reservations by you, rebooking, new seat assignments and you going to get a
Starbucks before the rest of your flight is any wiser.

Weather changes by the minute and hour...Don't think the airlines have decided to delay your flight because the weather is bad at your destination...then you call to a friend or family member at the destination and they tell you the weather is fine. 99% of people don't live next to the airport...So unless your friend/family is a member of NOAA and working that airport don't trip. Airlines don't delay flights for the hell of it! Airlines are made to fly in the worst of weather but ultimately it's the captain’s call if he wants to go or not. Weather can be enroute even when you can't see the storms or weather phenoms like "CAT" (Clear Air Turbulence) turbulence not associated with a visible storm or build up. There is more to getting flights to depart when the weather is bad than when it's good...If you think you can do it better (non pilots) let me know and I'll prove you wrong every time!


This is my attempt to help all the poor travelers who have gotten the raw end of the deal when traveling and I'm open to anyone who wants to offer solutions that seem to work. I'm not airline bashing but airline educating and when I'm teaching I'm learning too.
More stuff will follow in the near future to help make that airline flight a little more enjoyable and so that you can be the one laughing at people who didn't "Think" ahead and you almost knew what was going to happen before it happened...in a sense anyway

Keep The Blue Side Up!!!

Friday, May 2, 2008 at 10:36 AM