B767-300 and 300 ER
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Communication Breakdown; Confusion
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors; Procedure
Arrived at the airport at XA:45. The station representative met us advising he had just received an email further pushing our departure back to XE:00. He also advised they were unsure as to whether there were even parts on hand to repair the aircraft correctly and wondered if it would even depart that day. We settled in the crew rest area to wait and see. At XC:51; I received a call from a Company A representative asking how we felt and if we were still good to fly. They said Maintenance advised they would have the plane fixed in about an hour. We advised we were good to go. I then called Dispatch to advise and keep them in the loop. The Dispatcher emailed us release revision 2. We reviewed it and headed out to the aircraft. As we arrived outside the aircraft; Maintenance was still aboard working on the aircraft. At XD:35; Maintenance finished with the aircraft. We then boarded the aircraft to find it on battery power and the GPU (Ground Power Unit) running but the over voltage warning light indicator on. We flagged down personnel to get a new GPU. At XD:45 the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) was started. The replacement GPU arrived as the APU completed powering up. We then began our preflight. At XE:20; the preflight was finished. At XE:35; Maintenance finished the logbook and maintenance brief. We then blocked out. During this time I became aware of Company A Maintenance Control pressuring the on-site Company B maintenance personnel to 'line out' the other maintenance personnel's write-up stating 'Undocumented speed tape found concealing stripped and unsecured mounting screw to extruded MCD (Main Cabin Door) Manual Vent Door Drive (Pressure Vessel) cover panel'. This was found in Aircraft X's logbook. Maintenance Control wanted this done so as not to draw scrutiny to it by the FAA. Thankfully and appreciatively the Company B Mechanic refused to assist in this cover-up.This is the consistent behavior I have observed from the pressure Company C exerts on this operation to dispatch the aircraft on time at all costs. In the past several years I have submitted safety reports and FCRs (Flight Crew Reports) observing willful and wanton disregard of DDG (Dispatch Deviation Guide) procedures plainly written out. I've listened to Maintenance Control; on speakerphone; tell an on-site mechanic to 'Write whatever the hell makes the pilot happy to get that damn thing out of there.' I've had Maintenance Control denigrate me for not immediately pulling back into the gate with a problem but instead I followed procedure and called Dispatch for a three-way call with the problem. I've observed on numerous occasions and numerous stations Company B mechanics back-dooring the fuel sheets to make the numbers work instead of obtaining the fuel density to compute the numbers correctly to check the accuracy of the fueling process. I've had Company B mechanics on my jump seat share experiences of Maintenance Control telling them to check good" a system without actually testing the system. Thankfully as well; those mechanics told Maintenance Control their tickets were more important to them than their jobs. Both of those mechanics have since left Company B for more ethical workplace environments.My observation is the attitude in Maintenance Control is a mixture of arrogance and fear-driven to kowtow to this pressure. The pressure is passed down the chain from Company C to the executive level to the middle managers to the line supervisors to the line workers. This culture is a very dangerous one. It severely erodes the necessary safety and trust in the process required for it to work as it is designed. I have personally had so many of these instances where I have found incorrectly complied with DDG procedures both by blatant disregard and ignorance. I and several of my colleagues have experienced an extreme increase in time and concern when reviewing the log and maintenance procedures. I personally am not trained as a mechanic. The amount of items that we can see and have found greatly concerns us. Our concern is the amount of Maintenance egregious violations and errors we can see are so numerous and regular; how safe; complete; and compliant is the work; like the heavy checks and line maintenance behind the panels and cowlings that we cannot see. Our fear is this is going to lead to injuries; loss of life; and more aircraft damage and hull losses. The solution is straight forward and already established. Enforce strict adherence to maintaining the aircraft and equipment as directed by our FAA-approved maintenance program."
Air Carrier Captain reported non-adherence to proper aircraft maintenance procedures.