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July 25, 2008 6:43:02 AM CDT

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FAA Questions American's Lightning Safety

Posted May 16, 08 1:40 PM CDT in Business 

(Newser) – The FAA is questioning American Airlines' new policy on lightning inspections, and its opener is: Why doesn’t American do them anymore? American recently forbade its mechanics from doing extensive lightning damage checks unless pilots suspected a strike, a move designed to reduce delays and cancellations. Big airlines are typically allowed to tweak safety standards, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,” said one air-safety expert. “The FAA has no issue with our lightning strike policy,” said an American spokesman. But it could soon. Inspectors are taking the first steps toward a possible investigation. The issue highlights simmering labor tensions at American, whose own mechanics brought the change to the FAA’s attention.

Source Wall Street Journal

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An American Airlines MD-80 takes off from Tulsa International Airport in this April 14, 2003 photo.   (AP Photo/Tulsa Workd, David Crenshaw, FILE)
American Airlines flight crew members walk under company jets at LaGuardia Airport in this April 9, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Frances Roberts, File)
The reader board at Portland International Airport shows canceled American Airlines flights in Portland, Ore., in this April 9, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)
An American Airlines MD-80 aircraft taxis by a runway as another takes off from DFW International Airport, Thursday, May 19, 2005, in Grapevine, Texas. American Airlines on Saturday April 12, 2008 received...   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, FILE)
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airline industry  • American Airlines  • FAA  • airline safety  • inspection  • lightning


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