Plenty of blame to fly around
CANCELED FLIGHTS | FAA, airlines share responsibility for letting maintenance issue turn into fiasco
April 12, 2008
BY LEWIS LAZARE llazare@suntimes.com
More than 300,000 travelers were left stranded by American Airlines in one week -- waiting at airport ticket counters around the nation for hours to speak to customer service agents to find out how, when, even whether they would reach their destination.
All these displaced fliers seemed more than a little befuddled by their plight, even as aviation consultants warned of plenty more flight cancellations in the weeks and months ahead as the red-faced Federal Aviation Administration suddenly starts playing hardball with domestic airlines on the matter of safety.
But as the headlines screamed about the possibility of more bad news, fliers could only ask: Who's at fault? Should they blame American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, for taking hundreds of MD-80 aircraft out of service in the past week to repair wire bundles in the wheel wells and ensure that the aircraft were in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration directives? Or was it the FAA, which has been under blistering scrutiny in recent days by a congressional panel convened to examine the agency's oversight -- or lack of scrutiny -- of the airlines?
Neither AA nor the FAA was making it any easier for travelers to figure out where to point the finger. Both simply reiterated it was important for American to be in compliance. OK, but why now and not 18 months ago, when concerns about the wheel wiring first surfaced?
Safety had taken backseat
In truth, both the FAA and American are to be faulted for what has quickly turned into an horrendous public relations problem for AA (and, by association, all airlines) and for the FAA, which, as Senate testimony suggested, had over the past several years been more focused on developing a cozy relationship with the airlines than on ensuring aircraft safety. It was a cozy relationship that made life easier for FAA inspectors and apparently gave American more latitude in its safety inspections than was prudent.
American was but the latest of several airlines to undertake sudden safety checks the past few weeks. First came Southwest, which wasted no time grounding more than 40 planes to make emergency inspections after FAA whistleblowers said safety inspectors hadn't done their job. And thousands of customers of Southwest -- generally credited with top-notch service -- contended with scores of canceled flights. Suddenly, other airlines, including Delta and United, came forward to announce new safety checks and canceled flights.
None of what happened the past several weeks came close to matching the massive disruption when American Airlines grounded 300 planes. But the FAA -- its extraordinarily dirty laundry on display -- nonetheless stood by and watched American do just that. And American -- not wanting at any cost to appear cavalier about the safety of its airplanes and its passengers -- had no choice but to make a very public and very costly move to demonstrate it would never compromise customers' safety.
Industry in a rough patch
Now that the damage has been done, the FAA, American and the flying public are left to figure out how to move forward. With oil prices surging above $100 a barrel, fare surcharges kicking in almost daily now and the string of bankrupt carriers growing longer (Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday night but vowed to keep flying), the future hardly looks rosy for the commercial aviation industry.
Given what a confusing tangle of "he said, she said" talk has come down from both American and the FAA in recent days, the public may never know who to hold responsible for this latest aviation nightmare. But it is certain that the public's patience has been tested to the max.
CANCELED FLIGHTS | FAA, airlines share responsibility for letting maintenance issue turn into fiasco
April 12, 2008
BY LEWIS LAZARE llazare@suntimes.com
More than 300,000 travelers were left stranded by American Airlines in one week -- waiting at airport ticket counters around the nation for hours to speak to customer service agents to find out how, when, even whether they would reach their destination.
All these displaced fliers seemed more than a little befuddled by their plight, even as aviation consultants warned of plenty more flight cancellations in the weeks and months ahead as the red-faced Federal Aviation Administration suddenly starts playing hardball with domestic airlines on the matter of safety.
But as the headlines screamed about the possibility of more bad news, fliers could only ask: Who's at fault? Should they blame American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, for taking hundreds of MD-80 aircraft out of service in the past week to repair wire bundles in the wheel wells and ensure that the aircraft were in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration directives? Or was it the FAA, which has been under blistering scrutiny in recent days by a congressional panel convened to examine the agency's oversight -- or lack of scrutiny -- of the airlines?
Neither AA nor the FAA was making it any easier for travelers to figure out where to point the finger. Both simply reiterated it was important for American to be in compliance. OK, but why now and not 18 months ago, when concerns about the wheel wiring first surfaced?
Safety had taken backseat
In truth, both the FAA and American are to be faulted for what has quickly turned into an horrendous public relations problem for AA (and, by association, all airlines) and for the FAA, which, as Senate testimony suggested, had over the past several years been more focused on developing a cozy relationship with the airlines than on ensuring aircraft safety. It was a cozy relationship that made life easier for FAA inspectors and apparently gave American more latitude in its safety inspections than was prudent.
American was but the latest of several airlines to undertake sudden safety checks the past few weeks. First came Southwest, which wasted no time grounding more than 40 planes to make emergency inspections after FAA whistleblowers said safety inspectors hadn't done their job. And thousands of customers of Southwest -- generally credited with top-notch service -- contended with scores of canceled flights. Suddenly, other airlines, including Delta and United, came forward to announce new safety checks and canceled flights.
None of what happened the past several weeks came close to matching the massive disruption when American Airlines grounded 300 planes. But the FAA -- its extraordinarily dirty laundry on display -- nonetheless stood by and watched American do just that. And American -- not wanting at any cost to appear cavalier about the safety of its airplanes and its passengers -- had no choice but to make a very public and very costly move to demonstrate it would never compromise customers' safety.
Industry in a rough patch
Now that the damage has been done, the FAA, American and the flying public are left to figure out how to move forward. With oil prices surging above $100 a barrel, fare surcharges kicking in almost daily now and the string of bankrupt carriers growing longer (Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday night but vowed to keep flying), the future hardly looks rosy for the commercial aviation industry.
Given what a confusing tangle of "he said, she said" talk has come down from both American and the FAA in recent days, the public may never know who to hold responsible for this latest aviation nightmare. But it is certain that the public's patience has been tested to the max.
