Aviation Enthusiasts; KLM complains about quality control issues on 787's built in Charleston

[A HERETIC I AM]

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Dutch flag carrier KLM has complained about the quality controls carried out at Boeing's Charleston plant where some Dreamliners are produced.

KLM said the quality control at the Boeing's Charleston factory is far below the acceptable standards and the airline was concerned about the following deliveries, Dutch aviation news portal Luchtvaartnieuws.nl reports.

KLM expressed its displeasure to Boeing after receiving its first 787-10 Dreamliner in June.

Some examples about the lack of proper quality control are: loose seats, missing or incorrectly installed split pins, nuts that are not fully tightened, an unattached fuel pipe clamp and various missing parts.

KLM blames Boeing for poor quality control, late delivery and inadequate workforce at the factory.

The airline was planning to receive its first Boeing 787 exactly 100 days before the 100th year celebrations of the company, but the delivery was delayed.

There are also some negative feedbacks from other airline operators who received their Deamliners from Charleston factory. Etihad, for instance, calls a recent delivery "very bad".

However, not all 787 customers are negative. For example, United Airlines describes its Dreamliner deliveries as excellent quality and customer experience.Chinese carriers Hainan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines are also very positive in their response to Boeing.

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And yes, the Boeing Charleston facility is the one that is non-union. - AHIA

[leftieNanner]

1. My husband used to do some consulting at Boeing

Both in Seattle and in Charleston. Seattle has skilled union workers. The workers down south are MUCH lower paid and not experienced. I don't necessarily put this on the workers. The company wanted to save money on labor, so they moved to a new non-union shop and hired less qualified workers.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong?

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. I'm inclined to agree.

Workers can only assemble what they are given to assemble and if there isn't proper engineering or oversight, things like this can happen.

My main beef with their decision to build aircraft in South Carolina is I'm sure, similar to yours; A "Right-to-work" state means you can not be forced to join a union and it is much easier for a firm that may have union operations elsewhere, to do exactly what Boeing did.

It screws over their workers. Whether or not the issues pointed out in the article are a direct result of that is up for discussion, but one thing is for sure; Boeing neither needs nor can afford much more bad press.

In all fairness though, Airbus assembles aircraft in Mobile, Al, also a right-to-work state.

[leftieNanner]

5. Very true

I remember recently that the VW plant in Tennessee was having a vote to join the union and VW WANTED THEM TO!!! The company preferred to negotiate employment issues with a single unit (the union) instead of individually. But the Republican politicians pushed the employees hard to refuse the union membership - and they DID!

Stupid is as stupid does.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. Yup. I hauled cars out of that plant.

As well as the Mercedes Plant in Vance, Alabama (on I-20, between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham).

I remember the incident in Chattanooga you mention. It wasn't just "republican politicians" lobbying against the vote, but the god damned Governor himself!

The same thing happened in Vance - the vote was very close, but they voted against having the UAW in by something like 52 to 48%

FWIW, the Chattanooga plant was building strictly Passats and the Vance plant was building their SUV's when I was hauling out of there (almost 6 years ago now! Whew...time flies!). The Chattanooga property had room enough for another assembly hall and they were doing site prep work to build one the last time I was in there.

[RainCaster]

2. Some airlines have a higher quality standard

United is not among them.

[malaise]

3. What could go wrong as corporations fuck with people's lives

in the air and on the ground

[Dawson Leery]

7. The Seattle Unions train their workers.

The South is where industry goes to get cheap labor.