Posted on 04/10/2008 10:29:44 AM PDT by webschooner
Air travelers in the United States, whose plans have already been disrupted by thousands of canceled flights recently, may face continued chaos in coming weeks as the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines expand their scrutiny of passenger planes.
The groundings at airlines like American, Alaska, Delta and Southwest resulted from a broader round of inspections, ordered by the FAA, to determine whether the airlines have complied with past directives to check airplane structures, wires, electronics and other components.
A second wave of audits began on March 30 and will continue through June 30. Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said it could not rule out further groundings. "We don't know," she said. "We find what we find."
The FAA and airlines are responding, in part, to heightened scrutiny by Congress, led by Representative James Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, who is a longtime activist on aviation safety.
That will do little to reassure travelers, who face difficulties switching to other flights because planes are generally flying full on popular routes.
The agency turned up new problems Monday, when nine MD-80 jets operated by American failed an FAA check, prompting American to ground 300 planes. American canceled more than 1,000 flights on Wednesday, on top of 430 cancellations on Tuesday, while its fleet of MD-80s was inspected. American expects 900 cancellations Thursday, and the problem could spill over to Friday.
"The overreaction is unreal," said a senior executive at one major airline, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the situation.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Air safety is certainly and obviously important, but it seems to me that these suddenly extra mandated inspections could be scheduled in such a way as to disrupt less or no flights. Is it really a necessity to suddenly cancel hundreds of flights and cause chaos to the traveling public? I think not.
I think the gubmint just wants to flex its muscle, scare a few folks, and show "who's in charge", and "who's protecting you plebes". I agree with the airline exec -- this is a "the sky is falling" overreaction. Pathetic, IMHO.
This comes on the heels of stories and reports that the FAA was getting too cozy with the airlines. Now to compensate, their executing witch hunts of the airlines.
Stupid.
I was talking with some associates, one of whom suggested he wouldn't be surprised if this particular airlines received a credible threat, or some of their aircraft were dusted with or anthrax or some bio nasties were detected, and this is just one big cover story so they can screen or sweep their aircraft.
You make an interesting point... If I weren’t so paranoid, I’d disagree with you and say they’ve been put on notice. Problem is, can they stop it?
I wonder if any of these “wire bundle mods” were accomplished at any off-shore phase-check/mod centers?
Surprisingly many of the wire harnesses used by aircraft companies are made in the USA by UniCor, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bureau of Prisons, US Department of Justice. When I toured one of the “Club Feds” I saw them being made. UniCor also makes very nice office furniture for Federal agencies.
I wouldnt want to die in an aircrash thats for sure, but I really dont know what to think about this.
Does anyone know how many ADs (Airworthyness Directives for all you non-aviation types - similar to anautomobile “recall” notice) are involved in this?
I can see ONE airline possibly getting a bit lax in their maintenance, but not ALL. As you say, it looks like some political type at the FAA is flexing his muscle and everyone else being too timid to call him on this abuse of power.
After all, “It’s for the chil’run”.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. It looks like it’s either some sort of political grandstanding or it’s some sort of anti-terror inspections under the guise of safety.
If you like the FAA you'll howl over Govt Health care
BTW..... The spec changed was from every 4 inches to every 2 inches...
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