Airline blames policy switch for thousands
of canceled flights
Wall Street Journal May 2, 08 10:16 AM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines blames the FAA for its recent grounding of thousands of flights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The airline is set to deliver a report today that says 3,300 flights were canceled because FAA headquarters reversed a "handshake deal" the airline had with regional aviation officials that was supposed to allow the company to comply with changes in FCC wiring standards on its MD-80 aircraft without cancellations.
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Safety guidelines unclear and unfair, company says
New York Times Apr 19, 08 3:03 PM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines is tired of taking the heat for 2,000 flight cancellations that travelers endured last week, the New York Times reports. The once-contrite company is now criticizing the FAA, saying its new safety guidelines are unclear and unfair. “We don’t know what the rules are,” said an American technical crew chief. The company says its safety issues were minor deviations from technical standards that had been considered acceptable for years, and could have been fixed gradually.
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Teamsters prez
blasts plan as
'window dressing'
Associated Press Apr 18, 08 9:06 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Today Washington vowed to beef up airplane inspections and demanded to know why American Airlines stranded 250,000 travelers last week, the AP reports. "No one at all was well served by what happened," US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. But she defended federal regulators, saying they did not overreact after learning of lax inspections on Southwest Airlines planes last month.
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All but 3 jets are flying today and schedule will resume tomorrow
Associated Press Apr 12, 08 2:05 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Federal officials cleared American Airlines today to resume flying all but three of its grounded MD-80 jets, the AP reports. American wanted to run a full schedule today, but "we still need to get the planes positioned for their next flights," a company spokesman said. The full fleet of aging planes will be on schedule by tomorrow morning, the AP reports.
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Will cancel another 200, but aims to be
on track in 24 hours
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Apr 11, 08 6:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines flew about half of its MD-80s on schedule today but will ground another 200 for inspections tomorrow morning, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Execs said that all planes should be back on track by tomorrow night. CEO Gerard Arpey accepted blame for the groundings that have canceled 3,000 flights, saying, "We were not in technical compliance, and that is our failure.”
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Continued passenger
misery ahead as
safety work continues
New York Times Apr 9, 08 11:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines expects to cancel 900 more flights today as the airline works to bring its MD-80 aircraft up to FAA standards, the New York Times reports. Thousands more travelers will be stranded at airport hubs, and the problem could spill into tomorrow. American is just the latest airline to be hit with groundings under the more aggressive FAA audits, and more are expected industry-wide in the weeks ahead.
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UPDATED
FAA concerns over wiring issues prompt second voluntary round of cancellations
Wall Street Journal Apr 9, 08 12:34 PM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines has now canceled more than 1,000 flights as it inspects wires in its 300 MD-80 aircraft, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Federal Aviation Administration raised concerns about recent inspections of the wiring, the same issue that grounded more than 400 flights last month. The process, which began yesterday, could stretch past tomorrow and affect half of American's schedule.
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Skies unfriendlier than ever
Associated Press Apr 7, 08 3:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Airline passengers on domestic flights are unhappier than they've been in years, with consumer complaints up 60%, according to the annual Airline Quality Rating survey. Long delays, cancellations, overbooking, late arrivals, and lost baggage accounted for most of the complaints, which haven't been this bad since 2000, reports the AP. Complaints doubled on US Airways and Comair, and increased for 15 out of 16 carriers in the study. The sole exception was Mesa Airlines.
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WTHR Eye Witness News Indianapolis Apr 3, 08 7:57 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Passengers booked on ATA Airlines flights got a rude awakening this morning: The low-cost carrier declared bankruptcy in the middle of the night, shut down operations, and canceled all further flights, Eyewitness News reports. “Unfortunately, we were not in a position to provide our customers or others with advance notice,” the company said in a statement.
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Hundreds of volunteer staffers work to sort out baggage crisis
Guardian (UK) Mar 31, 08 3:33 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Hundreds of volunteer British Airways staffers spent their day off yesterday helping to return some of the 15,000 pieces of luggage lost when the state-of-the-art baggage system failed at the airline's new terminal at London's Heathrow airport last week. Scores of tech specialists have also been deployed to fix the computer problems, the Guardian reports.
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Reeling new Terminal 5 far short of capacity,
but full of irate travelers
Times (UK) Mar 28, 08 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Logistical disasters continued today at Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5—and flight cancellations, delays and luggage losses will likely continue all weekend, the Times of London reports. British Airways, the facility's sole airline, said it hoped to run 80% of planned flights today, the terminal's second. "I am a frequent traveler," one passenger said, "and this is the worst experience ever."
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Following American's shutdown, voluntary inspections ground older planes
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Mar 27, 08 9:52 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Delta Airlines canceled dozens of flights today and tomorrow after voluntarily grounding 133 of its older jets for inspections, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. As with American Airlines, Delta is checking wiring on some McDonnell-Douglas jets to ensure compliance with FAA directives. "It's an inconvenience," one traveler said, "but I'd rather be on a safe airplane."
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Dozens of planes grounded to check out wiring issue
Chicago Tribune Mar 26, 08 10:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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American Airlines canceled 171 flights today, benching almost its entire fleet of Boeing MD-80 twinjet aircrafts, the Chicago Tribune reports. American said it was inspecting how a “certain bundle of wires” was attached to ensure it complied with an FAA directive. But American said the grounding was voluntary, not FAA-mandated. The planes will be brought back into service throughout the day.
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Scores of flights canceled; Berlin transport also shut
Associated Press Mar 5, 08 7:23 AM CST
(Newser)
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Thousands of German airport workers have walked off the job on the first day of a strike, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe's largest country. Frankfurt International Airport, a key European hub, was picketed by more than 2,000 employees from baggage handlers to check-in counter workers and even firefighters, reports AP. In a coordinated action, Berlin's subway, tram, and bus workers began their own 10-day strike.
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