Qantas has reassured passengers their safety is paramount and accused a union of scaremongering after the carrier had to pull three of its Boeing 737 aircraft from service.
On Friday, the airline confirmed it found cracks in three of its Boeing 737NG planes after fast-tracking inspections this week.
The airline grounded the planes after finding hairline cracks in the “pickle fork” structure, between the wing and the fuselage.
“Of the 33 of Qantas’s 737 aircraft that required inspection, three were found to have a hairline crack in the pickle fork structure,” Qantas said in a statement.
“These aircraft have been removed from service for repair.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month ordered airlines to check any 737s that had completed more than 30,000 take-offs and landings, known as cycles, for cracks.
Qantas said earlier this week it would ground 33 of its Boeing 737s as it stepped up the checks. But it defied calls from the aviation engineers’ union to ground all 75 of the 737s in its fleet, saying the cracks – if present – did not compromise safety.
On Wednesday, the airline reported it had found one example of cracking in a plane with just under 27,000 cycles. It identified the other two during the audit of the 33 planes.
“The aircraft had all completed around 27,000 cycles. Any aircraft with more than 22,600 cycles was inspected, in line with advice from regulators,” Qantas said.
On Thursday, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said a second Qantas Boeing 737-800 had been found to have cracks.
“These aircraft should be kept safe on the ground until urgent inspections are completed,” association secretary Steve Purvinas said.
But Qantas – which did not confirm the ALAEA’s claims of a second incident of cracking – said the union’s calls to ground the 75 Boeings were “completely irresponsible.”
On Friday, Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David said the union had misrepresented the facts.
“We would never fly an aircraft that wasn’t safe,” Mr David said.
“Even where these hairline cracks are present they’re not an immediate risk, which is clear from the fact the checks were not required for at least seven months.”
“Unfortunately, there were some irresponsible comments from one engineering union yesterday, which completely misrepresented the facts.
“Those comments were especially disappointing given the fantastic job our engineers have done to inspect these aircraft well ahead of schedule, and the priority they give to safety every day of the week,” added Mr David.
Qantas said all three of the affected planes would return to service by the end of the year.
On Friday, Mr Purvinas also took a swing at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which declared on Thursday there was “no evidence” the whole Qantas fleet should be grounded.
“CASA are nothing more than a PR department of Qantas operation,” he told ABC radio.
The union leader also criticised Boeing for outsourcing work in the United States.
“I don’t have any confidence in Boeing at all,” Mr Purvinas said.
“They’re being very optimistic if they think these aircraft will be back in the sky by the end of the year.”
Qantas head of engineering Chris Snook criticised the ALAEA’s remarks, saying they were “completely irresponsible”.
“Even when a crack is present, it does not immediately compromise the safety of the aircraft,” Mr Snook said.
“We replace the pickle forks with new pickle forks,” he said.
“The aeroplane will be on the ground for a month … Boeing have done a repair scheme trial in California.
“It’s taken 11 days to do the pickle fork in-and-out, but it took about a month to do the entire process.”
Meanwhile, Boeing has faced two days of congressional hearings in Washington about the development of its 737 MAX.
Reuters reported the US president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Lori Bassani, raised concerns about the 737 MAX and wrote to Boeing to say its members would refuse to “walk onto a plane” that may not be safe.
“The 28,000 flight attendants working for American Airlines refuse to walk onto a plane that may not be safe and are calling for the highest possible safety standards to avoid another tragedy,” the October 30 letter read.
-with AAP
