An airline president wished his Boeing two-engine 737s to fly more quick. He asked Boeing if they could help, and they assured him they could…so they added two additional engines to each airplane.
After a few weeks of service with the added engines, the airline president asked his Operations Manager ( Business leadership development ) if his airplanes were flying faster. The president was astonished to hear that ,actually ,they were flying slower … and that the number of oil-related engine failures on the old engines was up dramatically.
The action-oriented, hands-on president decided to investigate first hand and sat in the jump seat as one of his crews got ready for a routine flight. The copilot meticulously read the checklist, and the pilot systematically complied. CoPilot: “Begin engines 1 and 2,” and the Pilot replied, “Engines 1 and 2 began.” The pilots then went on to make the flight with two engines running and two engines were out of utilization.
After landing, the president asked the pilots if they were aware of the extra two engines. They were quick to respond: “Are you joking, of course ( Business leadership development ) we are aware! Dragging those things around costs us an extra 15 minutes of time and 3,000 pounds of fuel on that last leg alone!!”
“Then why don’t you start them and use them?” asks the bewildered president.
“Hellooo,” says the pilot. “Are you kidding? Our union contract specifically states that we fly two-engine aircraft!!”
The president retreated from the cockpit and deplaned to watch the fuel and oil crew do the turn-around of the aircraft for the next flight. He was surprised to watch an obviously confused maintenance man scurry back and forth between the four engines…providing haphazard at best oil level checking and filling.
After the plane backed away from the gate, the president approached the maintenance man to ask him what was going on. The maintenance man responded, “Beats the heck out of me! I’m supposed to be checking oil on two engines ( Executive leadership training ) before each flight, but I obviously have four to check now…and not enough time or help to get it done before the pilot starts the engines. Besides, I always try to understand why two engines should never oil and the other two are too hot to put in place for!”