More AD's missed......more fines imposed

[juan23]

FAA proposes fines against US Airways and United Airlines

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the United States proposed a fine of 5.4 million US$ against US Airways for operating eight aircraft not in compliance with Airworthiness Directives (AD) or in violation of maintenance procedures on 1647 flights and a fine of 3.8 million US$ against United Airlines for violating maintenance procedures on one Boeing 737. The FAA alleges, that US Airways: - operated one of their Embraer ERJ-190s on 19 flights, although the airplane was not in compliance with an AD requiring an inspection to prevent a cargo door to open in flight - operated one of their Airbus A320s on 26 flights, although the airplane was not in compliance with an AD requiring an inspection of the landing gear for possible cracks - operated another A320 on 17 flights without inspection required by the same AD - flew a third Airbus A320 on 855 flights although the airplane did not meet maintenance requirements for engine repair - flew a Boeing 757 on 505 flights although inspections related to engine work were missed in violation of maintenance policies and procedures manual - flew another Boeing 757 on 121 flights without proper maintenance - flew a Boeing 767 on 53 flights without the mandatory weekly inspection - flew another Boeing 767 on 51 flights without inspections, tests and sampling required by maintenance program The FAA alleges, that United Airlines flew a Boeing 737 in not an airworthy condition for more than 200 flights with two shop towels in the engine's oil sump area instead of required protective caps until an inflight shut down of the engine became necessary due to loss of oil pressure.

[Apooh]

I heard about this in the news this morning. It is bothering but at the same time expected. With airlines struggling financially, cutting employess, charging for luggage, charging for pillows, using more and more commuter jets, etc... the next obvious thing is cutting corners with maintenance. This is definitely not a justification but I am not surprised.

Still, some people will argue that we are not having a lot of accidents. To me that is not a good argument because one accident is one-too-many and these maintenance issues have a tendency to cause accidents in the long run, not the short run. We'll see. It is very concerning to me as a passanger.

And in regards to financial difficulties, almost every time I have flown in the past six months has been on a full flight. So they are now charging for pillows, food, and luggage. Price of oil is half of what it was a year ago, airplanes are full, some are cutting corners in regards to maintenance, planes are flying slower to save fuel, salaries have been reduced and pensions eliminated. Why are they still suffering? I can understand they may have hedge the fuel price incorrectly but that is just one factor out of so many.

[HalcyonDays]

And in regards to financial difficulties, almost every time I have flown in the past six months has been on a full flight. So they are now charging for pillows, food, and luggage. Price of oil is half of what it was a year ago, airplanes are full, some are cutting corners in regards to maintenance, planes are flying slower to save fuel, salaries have been reduced and pensions eliminated. Why are they still suffering? I can understand they may have hedge the fuel price incorrectly but that is just one factor out of so many.

No two airlines are the same, but the reasons include, but are not limited to, the following : 1) continuing poor demand for travel overall (full flights mean nothing - only that capacity has been slashed in the past two years, to the equivalent of one major legacy carrier having dropped out of the market), 2) very poor level of demand for business travel : many business-class passengers are downgrading to economy or the fashionable premium economy cabins, where the revenue yields are far lower - revenue per available seat mile is falling far faster than actual passengers flown, 3) fuel costs are actually close to double what they were six/nine months ago, 4) increasing levels of debt and their associated finance costs.

[SYDCBRWOD]

many business-class passengers are downgrading to economy or the fashionable premium economy cabins, where the revenue yields are far lower - revenue per available seat mile is falling far faster than actual passengers flown,

Spot on there - a friend of mine on a six figure salary will be flying halfway around the globe shortly - IBM has booked that person in Economy - that person used to travel Business pre GFC. Needless to say my 6 foot 3 inch friend is less than impressed at this 'window dressing' of downgrading flights.