The biggest disruption in airline service since 9/11 has shocked air travelers in America and around the globe. In less than two weeks about 300,000 passengers have had flights cancelled or dramatically delayed as airlines struggled to comply with FAA inspection schedules. American Airlines, the carrier hit hardest, has cancelled a whopping 2,500 flights as of last Thursday. United Airlines grounded dozens of Boeing 777s used primarily on international routes. Delta Airlines, Midwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines have also pulled aircraft out of the line. Worse yet, interruptions in service may continue as the FAA is planning a new round of inspections, according to the Associated Press.
The calamity couldn’t have come at a worse time. Airlines are already struggling with record-high fuel prices and stiff domestic competition. Most of the large US carriers were bleeding cash before the groundings. Now, the very survival of some is in doubt. Which brings a question or two to mind. Why this? And, why now?
The underlying problem, recently exposed in Senate hearings, is a too cozy relationship between FAA officials and the airlines they are charged to oversee. The FAA’s Nicholas Sabatini blew the lid off gross violations by Southwest Airlines, including the carrier’s failure to inspect planes for outer skin cracks in a timely fashion. Once records were checked, it was determined that Southwest had flown “46 airplanes that had not been inspected” over an eight month period ending in early 2007, according to a Press-Enterprise editorial on April 7th. More incredible was the revelation that “FAA inspections of Southwest’s safety procedures were at least five years overdue.” Average Americans acquire a Bachelor of Arts degree in less time.
FAA officials were stung and embarrassed by these admissions. The agency fined Southwest $10.2 million, a punitive measure few could argue with. The airlines are ultimately responsible to meet or exceed all FAA airworthiness directives, and Southwest was culpable. As FAA officials looked more closely at compliance among other airlines, a disturbing pattern emerged. Many directives had been ignored or partially observed. The FAA’s next move led directly to the past week’s chaos.
One of the slighted FAA directives, issued in September 2006, ordered the airlines to inspect wire harnesses on MD-80 aircraft. American Airlines, out of compliance with that order, ”agreed to have all of its 300 MD-80s inspected…But to avoid a massive disruption to its network, the airline said it requested that it be allowed to inspect planes on a ‘rolling’ basis, perhaps temporarily grounding 15 to 20 planes at a time rather than all at once,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The FAA rejected that petition, demanding the entire fleet of noncompliant MD-80s be grounded. An identical approach was taken with other carriers utilizing the MD-80s and with United Airlines’ fleet of dozens of Boeing 777s. The dye was cast. In short order several airlines were in disarray, resulting in thousands of flights cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.
No one believes the MD-80s or any other aircraft were about to start falling out of the sky. The overdue inspections could have been completed in a matter of weeks without undue passenger displacement. However, “this could be viewed as a classic bureaucratic overreaction after the agency was embarrassed by the disclosure last month that FAA inspectors were letting Southwest ignore airworthiness directives — or that the top brass, shocked at how lax the safety review system had gotten, has finally awakened and ordered a high-impact new way of doing business,” reported Dan Caterinicchia of the Associated Press. At one fell swoop, the FAA went from “look the other way” to “by the book,” and everyone — airlines and passengers — suffers for it.
Like a typical Chicago Cub August collapse, there is plenty of blame to cast on all the players involved. In this case, the airlines put themselves in a vulnerable position by falling behind on inspections, unacceptable behavior no matter how safe air travel has been since 2001. But, it seems to me, the FAA is doubly at fault, first by exhibiting shoddy oversight, then by overcompensating with draconian measures sure to hurt an already crippled industry. American Airlines has estimated a $30 million cost due to its flight cancellations.
Worse, the blood-letting may not be over. According to the AP just last Thursday, “This week’s flight cancellations by American Airlines are likely to spread to other U.S. airlines in the weeks ahead as federal regulators step up a by-the-book review of carriers’ compliance with maintenance and safety orders issued in recent years.” All things considered, the immediate future for American travelers is not bright. Look for fewer airlines, tougher bookings, and higher fares.
What a way to run an airline.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Current Affairs, Politics