tobykea wrote:

Can anyone confirm if United are taking proactive steps like most airlines and checking their entire 737 NG fleet immediately regardless of cycle count?
I’ve emailed their Customer Care team on this and they just fed me the line of “safety is our number 1 priority at United and we can confirm we are acting in compliance with all FAA directives”. I went back snd asked for a specific answer on whether they’re going above and beyond the mandated timelines in the FAA directive like real safety conscious airlines such as Qantas and checking even young planes but have not heard a peep out of them on this. I even posted the question to their Facebook page and they’ve since blocked me which I find strange. I’ve seen vague reports around both AA and United checking their fleets but when this problem initially surfaced United said “we don’t have any 737NG planes with more than 30,000 cycles so we’ll check ours when they need to be checked”. Does’nt inspire a lot of confidence in me. Why hasn’t the FAA updated the directive to have all planes regardless of cycle count inspected immediately as we’ve seen plenty if younger planes showing up with this issue. For a critical part like the pickle fork I would have thought a change to checking all planes immediately would be justified.

djm18 wrote:

tobykea wrote:

Can anyone confirm if United are taking proactive steps like most airlines and checking their entire 737 NG fleet immediately regardless of cycle count?
I’ve emailed their Customer Care team on this and they just fed me the line of “safety is our number 1 priority at United and we can confirm we are acting in compliance with all FAA directives”. I went back snd asked for a specific answer on whether they’re going above and beyond the mandated timelines in the FAA directive like real safety conscious airlines such as Qantas and checking even young planes but have not heard a peep out of them on this. I even posted the question to their Facebook page and they’ve since blocked me which I find strange. I’ve seen vague reports around both AA and United checking their fleets but when this problem initially surfaced United said “we don’t have any 737NG planes with more than 30,000 cycles so we’ll check ours when they need to be checked”. Does’nt inspire a lot of confidence in me. Why hasn’t the FAA updated the directive to have all planes regardless of cycle count inspected immediately as we’ve seen plenty if younger planes showing up with this issue. For a critical part like the pickle fork I would have thought a change to checking all planes immediately would be justified.

Perhaps this email can be of help in getting some clarity...

Contact Us via E-mail: [email protected]

https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/home

The United Airlines Fleet Website is the best tool to learn about the United Airlines fleet as there is no other site that has as much information in one place than this sites does.

WildcatYXU wrote:

Also, if the spare pickle forks are made of titanium, won't it cause problems with electrochemical corrosion?

bennett123 wrote:

Three questions;

1. Is it likely that some aircraft will be scrapped rather than repaired.

2. Will B737NG in storage provide a source of Pickle Forks, and is that likely to accelerate their scrapping.

For example, the Germania aircraft at Kemble.

3. Can Pickle Forks be taken from B737 Classics.

bennett123 wrote:

Three questions;

1. Is it likely that some aircraft will be scrapped rather than repaired.

2. Will B737NG in storage provide a source of Pickle Forks, and is that likely to accelerate their scrapping.

For example, the Germania aircraft at Kemble.

3. Can Pickle Forks be taken from B737 Classics.

moa999 wrote:

It's interesting how some countries and airlines (particularly Korea and Australia) have been very forthcoming with factual data and commentary on the check and repair process, yet its radio silence from many others.

KDAL wrote:

All of the WN aircraft have been repaired and returned to service. The last one left VCV over two weeks ago. The WN aircraft that have been coming and going from VCV since then are going to IAC for paint.

Mostly wrote:

moa999 wrote:

It's interesting how some countries and airlines (particularly Korea and Australia) have been very forthcoming with factual data and commentary on the check and repair process, yet its radio silence from many others.

Yep. Silence from China. Thousands of high-mile, short-hop 737s operated by low margin airlines in corrosive environments flown by poorly trained pilots. FAA directives don’t have jurisdiction in China, and the airlines don’t have the money to repair their cracked NGs. They likely have hundreds of cracked forks and from their perspective, it makes no sense to admit it. They’ll fly those things into the ground - maybe literally.

They’re almost certainly quietly inspecting them though. The government needs chips in the trade deal negotiations, and threatening to disclose how many of their expensive American planes are broken gives them leverage. They know how damaging that headline could be. Especially considering that Boeing has by far the biggest influence on the Dow Jones average.

Quick edit - the Koreans are even angrier than the Qantas folks
http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article ... Idx=279906

bennett123 wrote:

Three questions;

1. Is it likely that some aircraft will be scrapped rather than repaired.

2. Will B737NG in storage provide a source of Pickle Forks, and is that likely to accelerate their scrapping.

For example, the Germania aircraft at Kemble.

3. Can Pickle Forks be taken from B737 Classics.

Dalmd88 wrote:

As for the whole man hours thing. Those numbers that get thrown around are pretty vague figures. The 3000 was a estimate from Boeing? That has a ton of padding built into it. Say they have 8 mechanics, a lead, and an inspector per shift. The guys in VCV seem to have it down to a ten day turn. That's 2400 hours. They have done a bunch now. These types of jobs always get quicker after a few airplanes being done by mostly the same crew. Everyone knows 'their job' in the process.

a $336 million charge related to 737 Next Generation frame fitting component (pickle fork) repair costs

PepeTheFrog wrote:

During the earnings call today, Boeing said it took a $336 million charge for the pickle fork issue.

https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2020-04-29 ... er-Results

a $336 million charge related to 737 Next Generation frame fitting component (pickle fork) repair costs