Maintenance Facilities Used by United Airlines in China and South Korea

 Enough of us were duped by the company and AMFA into believing that sending our widebody aircraft overseas for maintenance would give us credit in the bankruptcy concessions, while having no impact on us whatsoever. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This is a race to the bottom, the lowest bidder, and has had the profound effect of lowering the standard of maintenance performed on our aircraft. Had we left these aircraft with the domestic OSV’s, the issues of vendor overcapacity and the possibility of organizing these facilities would have worked in our favor. Fighting for maintenance work issues on these aircraft will now have to move to the political arena, thanks to AMFA!

Here are some surprising facts on these foreign OSV’s, provided to us from the IBT’s Research Department. This is very important information that needs to be conveyed to all concerned.

--Committee for Change

China

United’s fleet of 52 Boeing 777-200’s is maintained by Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corp. (AMECO) Beijing, a joint venture formed by Lufthansa and Air China.[1]  The facility is located at Beijing’s Capital Airport.  It includes a 4-bay hangar, 8,500 square meter repair shop, painting hangar that can accommodate aircraft up to and including Boeing 747-400’s, a 26,000 square meter engine repair and overhaul workshop, and 20,000 square meters of component workshops.[2]

According to the FAA database of repair stations, AMECO Beijing’s facility at the international airport employs a total of 3,599 people, including 2,179 non-certificated mechanics and 5 FAA certificated mechanics. 

Korea

Heavy maintenance on United’s fleet of 30 Boeing 747-400’s is performed by Korean Air at its Busan (also written as Pusan),[3] South Korea facility, which has a 2-bay hangar for airframe heavy maintenance.[4]  According to the FAA database of repair stations, the Korea Air Busan location, registered as “Korean Air Aerospace Div Mtc Business Unit APU SHO,” employs a total of 38 employees, including 21 non-certificated mechanics and 1 FAA certificated mechanic. 

All references to United’s contract with Korean Air have stated that maintenance is performed at Busan.  Korean Air also operates a repair station in Seoul, which employs a total of 4,238 people, including 3,599 non-certificated mechanics and 161 FAA certificated mechanics. 

SFO Maintenance Base

In comparison, United’s maintenance base in San Francisco, also listed in the FAA database, employs a total of 4,542 employees, including 4,248 certificated mechanics, 72 repairmen, and 248 non-certificated mechanics.