FedEx the FAA & alleged corruption

The FedEx aircraft maintenance facility at LAX is in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Far 145.103 (v) (b). With no action from the FAA. They operate out of a hangar with only 3 walls due to the fact the facility is not large enough to accommodate the aircraft. Leaving a good portion of the tail hanging out in the elements while doing Major Structural Repairs. This causes issues with shoring and expansion and contraction differentials due to the tail being in the sun, cold, wind, and rain, and when it rains it has been known to rain half way into the hangar due to the wind, and has put inches of rain water inside the open aircraft. The fog gets so bad being a mile off the ocean that there are occasions you can't see the aircraft in the adjacent bay not to mention the salt air that bare aluminum parts are exposed to on a daily basis. These issues contribute to improper structural repairs and are exactly why that Regulation exists.

FedEx has to the best of my knowledge never provided structures training to their mechanics in violation of FAR 145.163, 145.51(a)(7) and 121.375, while the FAA approved their training programs. FedEx also during my employment changed their hiring practices to remove any basic skills test or questions pertaining to structural repairs in order to get hired as a structural mechanic. In fact they put an Avionics Manager in charge of hiring mechanics for their structures department at LAX. These circumstances along with a hostile work environment have lead to many airworthiness issues and violations on DC10/MD10, MD11 aircraft that in some cases are over 40 years old.

FedEx's maintenance practices were so bad I was forced to go to upper management and subsequently the FAA, both of which failed to properly investigate my complaints, furthermore the FAA failed to protect me under the Whistleblower Protection Act. This lack of enforcement on the FAA's part resulted in my being repeatedly, harassed and retaliated against by FedEx for safety complaints and terminated 2 years ago. The FAA failed to substantiate any of my claims regarding my first whistleblower case. FAA Audits and Evaluations, wouldn't admit to a cover up, yet claimed their investigators were unqualified. I was issued another whistleblower case and contacted my Senator, initiating a congressional inquiry. To Note: I am not the only mechanic at FedEx LAX with WhistleBlower Complaints. And not the only individual to be retaliated against or terminated. OSHA DOL has also refused to do proper investigations regarding FedEx further hurting anyone with a whistleblower complaint.

I have after countless hours of work on my part, gotten the FAA to do at least a partial investigation of my claims. At the initiation of my second Whistleblower complaint the FAA promised a thorough investigation that would involve 18 investigators and months to perform. That quickly got whittled down to 4 investigators prepared with a laundry list of excuses and little motivation.

Even though there have been many hurdles the FAA has at least substantiated that FedEX has not accomplished repairs in accordance with the Structural Repair Manual. Substantiated that FedEx ignored needed repairs. Substantiated that Substantial damage was done to an aircraft during repairs. Substantiated Illegal sign off of repairs and also Substantiated, illegal repair and sign-off of repair.

The FAA "Partially Substantiated" (This term I believe is used to try and protect FedEx and possibly allow FedEx to continue to operate suspected "Unairworthy" Aircraft). They "Partially Substantiated" Pressuring mechanics not to write up problems with the aircraft. Also "Partially Substantiated" a Major Repair that which as stated in an Airworthiness Directive "could result in loss of fail-safe capability of the vertical stabilizer and reduced controllability of the airplaine" Improperly Repaired per the FAA. Partially Substantiated signing off of Pressure Vessel repairs as non Pressurized area. The complaints that the FAA Substantiated, or "Partially Substantiated" should bring into question the airworthiness of the entire FedEx fleet. These violations should and probably would ground an air carrier that does not have the financial resources, political influence, or amount of attorneys that FedEx Possesses.

The FAA has also ignored to investigate, or at the very least failed to admit they investigated other serious violations regarding aircraft maintenance, falsification of Aircraft Safety Documents and the airworthiness of certain aircraft. They have also failed to investigate or admit to an investigation regarding the lack of training, and skills possessed by FedEx aircraft structural mechanics.

Til this day the FAA has not been transparent enough to publicly acknowledge that there was even an investigation, no less their findings and if there was any corrective action or fines imposed against FedEx. They should be required to inform the public of violations committed by air carriers and their corrective actions in order to insure the safety of the pilots, crew and the general public.

This was stated by an FAA rep. during the Southwest investigation. "We are told that the airlines are our customers, and if they do well we do well--more jobs for us. I can't post a link here but this information is easily found.

I still feel the FAA owes not just myself, but the pilots, crew and the general public a thorough investigation as promised and that the FAA and FedEx be held accountable for the lack of oversight, maintenance violations, and disregard for the Regulations and public safety.

During my research I have not been able to find that FedEx has been filing all the lawsuits against them, as I believe they are required to do so for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 10k reports. This I would imagine is due to the fact that FedEx could be in violation regarding Federal Contracts, and definitely does not serve stockholders or investors fairly making educated investment decisions.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
The FedEx aircraft maintenance facility at LAX is in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Far 145.103 (v) (b). With no action from the FAA. They operate out of a hangar with only 3 walls due to the fact the facility is not large enough to accommodate the aircraft. Leaving a good portion of the tail hanging out in the elements while doing Major Structural Repairs. This causes issues with shoring and expansion and contraction differentials due to the tail being in the sun, cold, wind, and rain, and when it rains it has been known to rain half way into the hangar due to the wind, and has put inches of rain water inside the open aircraft. The fog gets so bad being a mile off the ocean that there are occasions you can't see the aircraft in the adjacent bay not to mention the salt air that bare aluminum parts are exposed to on a daily basis. These issues contribute to improper structural repairs and are exactly why that Regulation exists.

FedEx has to the best of my knowledge never provided structures training to their mechanics in violation of FAR 145.163, 145.51(a)(7) and 121.375, while the FAA approved their training programs. FedEx also during my employment changed their hiring practices to remove any basic skills test or questions pertaining to structural repairs in order to get hired as a structural mechanic. In fact they put an Avionics Manager in charge of hiring mechanics for their structures department at LAX. These circumstances along with a hostile work environment have lead to many airworthiness issues and violations on DC10/MD10, MD11 aircraft that in some cases are over 40 years old.

FedEx's maintenance practices were so bad I was forced to go to upper management and subsequently the FAA, both of which failed to properly investigate my complaints, furthermore the FAA failed to protect me under the Whistleblower Protection Act. This lack of enforcement on the FAA's part resulted in my being repeatedly, harassed and retaliated against by FedEx for safety complaints and terminated 2 years ago. The FAA failed to substantiate any of my claims regarding my first whistleblower case. FAA Audits and Evaluations, wouldn't admit to a cover up, yet claimed their investigators were unqualified. I was issued another whistleblower case and contacted my Senator, initiating a congressional inquiry. To Note: I am not the only mechanic at FedEx LAX with WhistleBlower Complaints. And not the only individual to be retaliated against or terminated. OSHA DOL has also refused to do proper investigations regarding FedEx further hurting anyone with a whistleblower complaint.

I have after countless hours of work on my part, gotten the FAA to do at least a partial investigation of my claims. At the initiation of my second Whistleblower complaint the FAA promised a thorough investigation that would involve 18 investigators and months to perform. That quickly got whittled down to 4 investigators prepared with a laundry list of excuses and little motivation.

Even though there have been many hurdles the FAA has at least substantiated that FedEX has not accomplished repairs in accordance with the Structural Repair Manual. Substantiated that FedEx ignored needed repairs. Substantiated that Substantial damage was done to an aircraft during repairs. Substantiated Illegal sign off of repairs and also Substantiated, illegal repair and sign-off of repair.

The FAA "Partially Substantiated" (This term I believe is used to try and protect FedEx and possibly allow FedEx to continue to operate suspected "Unairworthy" Aircraft). They "Partially Substantiated" Pressuring mechanics not to write up problems with the aircraft. Also "Partially Substantiated" a Major Repair that which as stated in an Airworthiness Directive "could result in loss of fail-safe capability of the vertical stabilizer and reduced controllability of the airplaine" Improperly Repaired per the FAA. Partially Substantiated signing off of Pressure Vessel repairs as non Pressurized area. The complaints that the FAA Substantiated, or "Partially Substantiated" should bring into question the airworthiness of the entire FedEx fleet. These violations should and probably would ground an air carrier that does not have the financial resources, political influence, or amount of attorneys that FedEx Possesses.

The FAA has also ignored to investigate, or at the very least failed to admit they investigated other serious violations regarding aircraft maintenance, falsification of Aircraft Safety Documents and the airworthiness of certain aircraft. They have also failed to investigate or admit to an investigation regarding the lack of training, and skills possessed by FedEx aircraft structural mechanics.

Til this day the FAA has not been transparent enough to publicly acknowledge that there was even an investigation, no less their findings and if there was any corrective action or fines imposed against FedEx. They should be required to inform the public of violations committed by air carriers and their corrective actions in order to insure the safety of the pilots, crew and the general public.

This was stated by an FAA rep. during the Southwest investigation. "We are told that the airlines are our customers, and if they do well we do well--more jobs for us. I can't post a link here but this information is easily found.

I still feel the FAA owes not just myself, but the pilots, crew and the general public a thorough investigation as promised and that the FAA and FedEx be held accountable for the lack of oversight, maintenance violations, and disregard for the Regulations and public safety.

During my research I have not been able to find that FedEx has been filing all the lawsuits against them, as I believe they are required to do so for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 10k reports. This I would imagine is due to the fact that FedEx could be in violation regarding Federal Contracts, and definitely does not serve stockholders or investors fairly making educated investment decisions.


FedEx...always "safe" and by the book. apparently not. All of the hoopla and concern begins when something bad happens and somebody needs a trip beneath the bus. Until then?
 
Is there proof of all this? The violations and/or 'conspiracy'?
Yes there is proof. It took a lot of doing to get the FAA to do anything, and then providing any credible substantiation was like pulling teeth. The letter of findings I have received even though substantial, I am sure was provided to placate me in hopes I would go away. I am not giving up til they do a "Proper" investigation and there is some accountability
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I tried to contact them months back, with no reply.

One would think that the pilots and ALPA would be very concerned about this. Apparently, they are in Fred's pocket and don't want to upset anyone. Our pilots could care less about the rest of the employees. They have theirs, and that's all that matters.
 
One would think that the pilots and ALPA would be very concerned about this. Apparently, they are in Fred's pocket and don't want to upset anyone. Our pilots could care less about the rest of the employees. They have theirs, and that's all that matters.
It's extremely difficult to find anyone that's not in Fred's Pocket. Or fears retaliation from the agency they work for, for investigating FedEx. The one FAA inspector that I felt was honest and wanted to do his job, isn't even allowed to talk to me now. Imagine that.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
It's extremely difficult to find anyone that's not in Fred's Pocket. Or fears retaliation from the agency they work for, for investigating FedEx. The one FAA inspector that I felt was honest and wanted to do his job, isn't even allowed to talk to me now. Imagine that.

I would imagine that someone in the FAA got a call from Fred, or one of his senators or congressmen. That's how it works, which is really unfortunate.
 
I would imagine that someone in the FAA got a call from Fred, or one of his senators or congressmen. That's how it works, which is really unfortunate.
I would imagine that that is what could have happened, but I have dealt with this all the way to the FAA Audits and Evaluations, Even the Inspector General is trying to ignore this situation which tells me it might even go higher than the FAA. President Obama did say Fred is his favorite CEO.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I would imagine that that is what could have happened, but I have dealt with this all the way to the FAA Audits and Evaluations, Even the Inspector General is trying to ignore this situation which tells me it might even go higher than the FAA. President Obama did say Fred is his favorite CEO.

We have seen the kind of influence Fred has over the FAA, particularly the FAA Reauthorization Act, which is how he keeps hourly workers under the RLA. I would suggest calling a politician not in Smith's pocket, and informing them of what's happening. This could turn into a cover-up investigation if your allegations are true. You might even consider the Attorney General's office.

When one of our aircraft augers into someone's neighborhood, then you'll get some attention.
 
We have seen the kind of influence Fred has over the FAA, particularly the FAA Reauthorization Act, which is how he keeps hourly workers under the RLA. I would suggest calling a politician not in Smith's pocket, and informing them of what's happening. This could turn into a cover-up investigation if your allegations are true. You might even consider the Attorney General's office.
I have contacted a senators office a little over a year ago and pressed for a congressional inquiry, I did check and as far as I can tell a senator that hasn't drank the FedEx Kool-Aid as of yet. Have tried the Inspector General, that has just been bureaucratic bs, telling me that the issue should be handled by the FAA. Haven't tried the Attorney General yet, thanks for the suggestion.
 

thedownhillEXPRESS

Well-Known Member
Did you press the LA Times to try and do some investigative journalism?Use the recent Fedex vs Bus accident as a conversation starter about safety.Then work into your concerns.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Did you press the LA Times to try and do some investigative journalism?Use the recent Fedex vs Bus accident as a conversation starter about safety.Then work into your concerns.

Great point. I'm sure there will never be a scandal involving Fred or FedEx. They are the epitome of ethical behavior. Just consider Fred's past...uh, well, err.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
Well if the pilots don't care... But I read this as more of an issue of whistle-blowing in general and the great lie that has become. And most likely an industry wide issue. Where it matters most is passenger airlines, I wonder how much is wrong there and being covered up?
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Well if the pilots don't care... But I read this as more of an issue of whistle-blowing in general and the great lie that has become. And most likely an industry wide issue. Where it matters most is passenger airlines, I wonder how much is wrong there and being covered up?

The OP referenced the SWA case, which has been alleged by others to be something of an FAA cover-up. If you will recall, Southwest had a number of older 737s where there was a major safety issue. Some thought it didn't get adequate attention and that the FAA "assisted" SWA a bit too much.
 
The OP referenced the SWA case, which has been alleged by others to be something of an FAA cover-up. If you will recall, Southwest had a number of older 737s where there was a major safety issue. Some thought it didn't get adequate attention and that the FAA "assisted" SWA a bit too much.
There are a couple of the same players in the FAA as the Southwest case. What makes this worse than the Southwest case, even though FedEx isn't a passenger airline, is the fact that FedEx is for the most part flying aircraft that the passenger airlines retired for a reason. The airlines retired these aircraft for many reasons, and amongst them is that they were getting too costly to maintain. There are a lot of structural issues, corrosion being a large one, due to leaky waste tanks, poor maintenance, and just the age, They're worn out. Then FedEx buys them for close to nothing and adopts lean manufacturing process into their maintenance and expects to do a C Check in 20 days. Toyota created "Lean" and if you check it just cost them $1.2 billion in fines due to quality issues, and ignoring safety issues. And then to make matters worse while FedEx is doing everything they can to save a buck, the FAA has been ignoring violations. They called it a "Cozy Relationship" between southwest and the FAA, this I believe goes way beyond Cozy.
 
Well if the pilots don't care... But I read this as more of an issue of whistle-blowing in general and the great lie that has become. And most likely an industry wide issue. Where it matters most is passenger airlines, I wonder how much is wrong there and being covered up?
This started out as a huge safety issue, and has culminated into a whistle-blower issue. I do not wish what I have gone through on anyone. As far as being an Industry wide issue, I can't see how it isn't. The FAA has repeatedly failed to do their job, and everyone you talk too has the same excuses why they either can't or won't do their jobs. And if you are lucky enough to find someone that isn't a bureaucratic drone, they mysteriously get pulled off the case and in at least one instance, the inspector was told he was not allowed to talk to me anymore.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
There are a couple of the same players in the FAA as the Southwest case. What makes this worse than the Southwest case, even though FedEx isn't a passenger airline, is the fact that FedEx is for the most part flying aircraft that the passenger airlines retired for a reason. The airlines retired these aircraft for many reasons, and amongst them is that they were getting too costly to maintain. There are a lot of structural issues, corrosion being a large one, due to leaky waste tanks, poor maintenance, and just the age, They're worn out. Then FedEx buys them for close to nothing and adopts lean manufacturing process into their maintenance and expects to do a C Check in 20 days. Toyota created "Lean" and if you check it just cost them $1.2 billion in fines due to quality issues, and ignoring safety issues. And then to make matters worse while FedEx is doing everything they can to save a buck, the FAA has been ignoring violations. They called it a "Cozy Relationship" between southwest and the FAA, this I believe goes way beyond Cozy.

The FAA shouldn't be subject to political pressure and the influence of big players like Smith, but it apparently is. When I said that Fred called one of "his" Senators, I wasn't kidding. "Hey, Bob (Corker), can you give Senator X a call and tell the FAA to back-off on FedEx?". That's how it works. I'm guessing that an MD10 has a lot of cycles on it, and that the airframe has a definite life expectancy. All of those ex-United DC10s were a real bargain..not.
 
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