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MX 101

hford
Explorer A
Plane I am not an airline mechanic. I can hardly change a flat tire on my car. So a few weeks ago when I was invited to help with our Maintenance Crawfish Boil, I was ecstatic. A good friend and Coworker of mine, Katie, came along too. Hollee in plane Plane 2While serving crawfish to our amazing Mechanics, I was also able to catch a glimpse inside one of our 737s during a maintenance check. WOW! The best metaphor I could think of is an airplane is like my attic. In my attic, the framing and structure is in place but the wiring is exposed, the flooring is plywood but mostly it looks unfinished. When we do a comprehensive maintenance check on a plane, we remove all the seats, the bins, the flooring, the walls…everything. This allows our Mechanics to check the entire structure of the plane. Have you ever noticed that we have one row on the airplane without a window? During my visit, I found out why. The row without a window has air conditioning ducts to cool the airplane. Check it out in the picture below. AC So while I'm not as technicaly related to Mechanics as my other blogger, Gordon, I thought I'd share my view.
15 Comments
Micah1
Explorer A
Keep up the good work, Southwest Airlines!!! Effective July 7, US Airways will drop two of their ten flights between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Also, US Airways will drop their only two flights between Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Jack13
Explorer C
Honestly, that is kind of scary seeing how bare bones an airplane is.
Eric2
Explorer C
Hey - just wondering - what kind of plane is it? -300? -500? -700? How long does it take to do one of those heavy checks? Great pics! Thanks for sharing!
Jacsr
Explorer C
Hey Southwest, Please, Please put back the restrooms before putting the plane back in service it just might be hard without them. Hook up the AC also. I do want to comment on how valuable it it to us flyers that Southwest goes to all the trouble to show us whats going on in the southwest world. Just like the Airline program which came back on last weekend, it is just great that we are able to see the interworkings of our favorite and only Airline for travel. I especially want to say how glad I am that I could book in early May for a trip to Houston in September, By be;ing alble to plan so far in advance I was able to do planning for other trips, Sorry Southwest but we are going to drive to Boston, instead of flying, then again hmm maybe I should look at flying instead. Thanks JACSR
Matthew_Skok
Explorer A
Obviously somebody at Boeing/Southwest has a sense of humor: Fido -> To Eric, judging by the pictures I believe that this a a 737-700.
Steven9
Explorer C
What time / channel is Airline on now? Thanks!
gguillory
Adventurer C
Hollee, great post, first of all I want to say thank you for helping with the crawfish boil... Your explanation of our Mx check was right on track... The picture of you inside the cabin is very nice...only one problem...You don't have any tools in your hand... Thanks for hanging out with us. Gordon
joe-mdw-plane-d
Frequent Flyer C
Where oh where did my post from this morning go? :-( No seats are available on flight 387 from dtw to phx on monday so don't ask! Ding! boy Joe
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Hollee, This is a great blog! However, for folks who don't get the lingo, they may have thought your post was publicizing some FM radio station...'and now, from Mix 101, we have the theme from "Airport" coming atcha'! It really IS fascinating to see those planes stripped down to just the bare walls, plus you get a better appreciation for how many miles of wiring is hidden from view when the pax board the plane. If you really want to see a lot of wires, check out the cockpit. The pilot of the corporate jet owned by my former employer once sent me an e-mail with pictures he took during a complete overhaul, and the one of the cockpit without the instrument panel in place looks like a giant plate of multi-colored spaghetti! Kim External Blog Boy 🙂
blusk
Aviator C
Ding Boy, Sorry about the comment. It may have wound up on the "spam" queue for some reason--the software isn't a 100 percent reliable. Or, did you navigate away from the page before posting your comment? Or, maybe aliens intercepted your comment in their parallel universe? Blog Boy
joe-mdw-plane-d
Frequent Flyer C
Better get the Jedi blog master to investigate. Repost: How long does it take to reassemble the plane? Dtw: Number 2 in customer service because someone else is number one. :-P Ding! boy at 90 degrees. Joe
pcerda
Adventurer B
Actually, it was the Sith using the Dark Side of the Force to intercept posts containing the information of the new Rebel base. I'll go confront them with Yoda and my bright yellow lightsaber and return your missing to its original form. "this is not the post..." You know the rest..... Jedi Blog
joe-mdw-plane-d
Frequent Flyer C
Just saw the "Makeover" with the donations from the dal mechs. Cool. I hope they had fun with their brief tv appearances. I had it on dvr and haven't been watching a lot of tv lately. ;-p. Ding! boy looking for more non stops from dtw to phx, mco, and new service to den. Joe
pberg
Frequent Flyer B
Hollee--enjoyed reading this blog post. Have you started your new job yet? Colleen
hford
Explorer A
Thanks for so many great comments! As Colleen mentioned I've started a new job at Southwest. YEAH! (So that should explain the delay in getting answers to your questions.) My official title is Manager of Online Products which means I'm handling the Southwest Vacations and Groups products. So more to come on those two topics... So for your questionsÃ