Originally Posted by
Palmtree Pilot
Please tell me why your "Air Line" does not keep extra starter generators at your Int'l hub of SEA... My flight for NRT was supposed to leave @ 1340 yesterday and we are still here watching the flight slide back later and later. Showed up this morn @ 0500 to stand in line at check-in for 2.5 hours. They hadn't changed the flight# and couldn't sell the seats? What a goat rope of an "air line." Reminds me of the time 76-300 returned to FRA after departure, sit on hard stand for 2 hours, NO SERVICE, take-off to arrive in ATL when line of T-storms forecasted to arrive. Well it did and produced tornadoes in DT Atlanta so we diverted to Birmingham, an airport without customs; Good thing there wasn't a problem with the airplane when we arrived. Sure seems like people are asleep at the wheel in the planning department over there.
Funny how you guys and United have your CEOs on you "welcome aboard" videos spewing out total blatant lies about customer service and being comfortable on the aircraft, all while sitting in the WORST pitched seats on a 17 hour delayed Int'l flight. Reminds me of the White House and Capital Hill.
U.S. Airlines are the worst... and unfortunately there is nothing the front line employees can do about it.
If you want to get down to the minutia, complain to your senators, and congressman on the state level. They can fix a lot of it by getting rid of laws that charge property tax on spare parts. Its not cheap to hold a ton of parts in stores. Every airline pays property taxes on those parts. Have these laws nixed so it is less cost prohibitive to hold many of these parts.
Also, who is to say that the one spare start valve or whatever was inop was not used on another jet in the last day. Parts break, its what happens when you have a million moving parts flying in close formation.