What’s with Qantas mechanical malfunctions

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: TonyS

Qantas is taking the same route that the Pentagon did with Sequestration. Maintenance are some of the biggest costs for aircraft. The Pentagon bet that Congress would blink first when talking about Sequestration, so didn't make any plans for budget cuts. Then when Congress didn't blink, they looked at their biggest cost area, which was maintenance, and gutted it to take a big chunk of spending out all at once.

Qantas wants their safety record, and their maintenance, but they want both cheap. In 2012, they cut 500 jobs from their heavy maintenance division. They cut their 737 heavy maintenance from Melbourne, and cut an additional 113 jobs from Avalon as they reduced 747 operations. That was expected to save them as much as $98M a year. In 2014, they cut another 167 jobs from the engineering side. Then the pandemic redundancy cuts hit, and another 35% were laid off. Meanwhile, Alan Joyce, the CEO, received a $287,000 raise. The average age of Australian licensed aerospace engineers is currently 54.

That sounds like a formula for disaster. Especially true when you consider the vast distances of some of Quantas routes.

Another thing I have to wonder about, the age of their engineers. Is that possibly a problem for the entire industry?

a reply to: TonyS

It is. To both of those questions. I’ve followed several discussions involving Qantas engineers, and every one of them has said the same thing. It’s just a matter of time.

The Air Force has spent several years increasing the size of their maintenance force, but that’s only going to get them so far. The guys with the experience, that can diagnose a problem by listening to it are gone. And so is that experience base. That’s what hurts the most. The new guys are learning, but there’s a ton of experience knowledge that’s just gone. It’s the same with the commercial side.

Im in my early 50,s now and I can see that sheetmetal structures will be a thing of the past soon.Only guys I see doing sheetmetal now are car guys..

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Im in my early 50,s now and I can see that sheetmetal structures will be a thing of the past soon.Only guys I see doing sheetmetal now are car guys..

havnt seen any 3d printed saucepans yet but the car guys are doing well using sheet metal

a reply to: Zaphod58

Wow, bad. We are entering dangerous times. I suppose that there's a possibility that with technological advances and AI, the human experiential intelligence deficit can be overcome.......someday.