March 27, 2008
American Airlines took 80 planes out of service and canceled 300 flights on Wednesday after re-inspecting wiring on MD-series aircraft, while Delta Air Lines began similar checks on 133 planes, the carriers said.
It was unclear if there would be service disruptions on Thursday at American. Delta said some cancellations were expected but was not more specific.
Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said the re-inspection at American was not related to any specific safety incident but to an industrywide safety audit launched last week by the Federal Aviation Administration. “This is related to the audit,” Wagner said.
The FAA audit is to assess airline compliance with agency directives, most of which require aircraft inspections.
Some in Congress have sharply criticized FAA oversight of its own orders and a system that allows airlines to self-report problems to regulators. Maintenance lapses by Southwest Airlines in 2006-07 that were revealed recently triggered the audit as well as investigations by Congress and the US Transportation Department inspector general.
American began re-inspections Tuesday night on nearly 300 MD-80 series aircraft. The narrow body planes are a workhorse at the carrier’s Dallas and Chicago hubs.
The checks assessed whether American followed all procedures of a 2006 FAA order to ensure that wiring for an auxiliary hydraulic pump was properly installed and secured.
The directive, affecting more than 730 aircraft in the US commercial fleet, was aimed at preventing electrical shorts that could trigger a fire in the wheel well, a copy of the order showed.
In some cases, airlines were to install additional protection around wire bundles.
Wagner said 80 planes were parked for closer checks or specific work. Planes were immediately returned to service once the inspections and related fixes, if necessary, were completed. The airline wound up canceling about 300 flights, slightly more than 10 percent of mainline operations.
In response to developments at American and after consulting the FAA, Delta began voluntary checks of its own MD-series planes — 117 MD-88s and 16 MD-90s.
As of Wednesday night, Delta had not found any problems.
Under the FAA audit, safety inspectors are looking at airline compliance with 10 safety directives. The directives vary, depending on what type of aircraft is flown. The first reports on airline compliance are due at the end of the week.
FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said preliminary results showed a “high rate of compliance.”
United Airlines grounded seven Boeing 747s last week to retest altitude indicators. United said no problems were found and the unscheduled checks were unrelated to the FAA audit.
The House of Representatives Transportation Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee have scheduled hearings next month on airline maintenance and FAA oversight.
Airline stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as the price of oil — directly linked to the price of jet fuel — again moved higher. American lost USD$1.02, or 10.6 percent, to close at USD$8.61 while Delta fell USD$1.23, or 12.3 percent, and finished at USD$8.74 in regular trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Both posted slight gains after hours.
(Reuters)