What's with the Airlines???

[REDWITCH 13]

I just heard on the news today about 2 more Major Airlines cancelling flights to inspect their planes


I want to be safe, but shouldn't this be a routine practice for them

They are now calling and letting passengers know in advance about the change and booking them new flights.

What about the people who showed up at the airports only to find that their flight were cancelled and they had to sit and wait

Not good man...not good at all

Darlene(Red)

[ready2board]

Originally Posted by REDWITCH 13

I just heard on the news today about 2 more Major Airlines cancelling flights to inspect their planes


I want to be safe, but shouldn't this be a routine practice for them

They are now calling and letting passengers know in advance about the change and booking them new flights.

What about the people who showed up at the airports only to find that their flight were cancelled and they had to sit and wait

Not good man...not good at all

Darlene(Red)

I've got a feeling that the recent problem with Southwest and the Feds not inspecting properly runs deeper and to more airlines than we have been told so far.

Sad about Southwest. They were basically number 1 for years in safety and customer service (although I could never seem to get the "great deal" others seemed to get at times. Maybe I just flew at the wrong times?)...I guess nothing lasts forever.

[fllady]

Its not just SW, American, and Delta is also cacelling flights to do the check. Better safe and alive, with a little inconvenience than the other....

[beenie weenie]

All I know is, American better have their act together by tomorrow, because I am leaving on my vacation with or without them. I have trip insurance, therefore I rule the world!

[ready2board]

Originally Posted by beenie weenie

All I know is, American better have their act together by tomorrow, because I am leaving on my vacation with or without them. I have trip insurance, therefore I rule the world!

Does your trip insurance cover pot hole damage on I 70?

70 is terrible right now unless they've fixed them since last week.

[beenie weenie]

Well I am glad you mentioned that!, I guess we'll be taking a rental car south in that case, and yes my insurance will cover damage to the rental, lol!

[Rev22:17]

Darlene,

Originally Posted by You

I just heard on the news today about 2 more Major Airlines cancelling flights to inspect their planes


I want to be safe, but shouldn't this be a routine practice for them

They are now calling and letting passengers know in advance about the change and booking them new flights.

What about the people who showed up at the airports only to find that their flight were cancelled and they had to sit and wait

Not good man...not good at all

Yes. In the wake of some issues recently uncovered at Southwest Airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) undertook a much more extensive audit of aircraft maintenance that apparently uncovered a deficiency in some instructions on installation of one particular cable on MD-80 and MD-90 aircraft. The instructions apparently were not quite as specific as they should have been, leading to the possibility that technicians who were following the instructions might have installed the wiring in a manner that, at least theoretically, could cause problems. Rather than take chances, Delta and American "voluntarily" (?) decided to inspect the cable in question as expeditiously as possible on all aircraft of these models when the FAA informed them of the discovery. Here's one of many recent news articles about the problem and my take.

>> 1. It's not clear how "voluntary" the decision really was since the FAA may well have been ready to issue an edict "grounding" these aircraft until the airlines completed the inspection if the airlines had not agreed to act "voluntarily."

>> 2. It's also not clear how serious the danger really is since these aircraft have been flying for years, apparently without incident, with maintenance performed by the defective procedure.

>> 3. Note that although the planes are ostensibly taken out of service only for "inspection" of the installation affected cable, any plane found to have the cable installed incorrectly cannot return to service until the airline reinstalls the cable correctly and corrects any other damage caused by the incorrect installation. This really begs the question of whether the inspections actually happened overnight and the cancellations are really due to what they found....

But in any case, by agreeing to act "voluntarily," the airlines bought the flexibility to do these inspections on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, when flights are generally least full and thus when other flights would be most readily available to accommodate affected passengers.

I realize that the cancelled flights could have annoying consequences for folks going on cruises, but the situation overall probably is not as bad as the news reports make it sound.

Norm.

[AR]

What's with the airlines?

They're simply doing what, for all practical purposes, they've been told to do. There's no evidence that the potential problem these inspections are checking for had anything to do with malfeasance or inattention in the past. It's "one of those things."

That said, the fact that the airlines are running with thinner schedules and reduced staffing compared to five years ago doesn't help a bit when you hit a bump in the road like this. Fewer alternatives mean more inconvenience.

Part of the price we pay for insisting on rock bottom airfares.