American Airlines insists it had a handshake deal with the FAA to fix its MD-80 wiring problems over a 60-day period to keep from having to cancel flights. No way, says the FAA. Maintenance on hundreds of jets was “so sloppy” that it posed a safety risk, the agency claims.
A Washington Post article notes the tit-for-tat arguments being offered by the airline and the FAA. Both share plenty of the blame. Hopefully, the agency and the airline will get back to their knitting.
The chaos that ensued and the flight cancellations are undeniable. The AA schedule is still suffering, with only around a 50-something percent on-time rating. Pilots, affected as much by the cancellations, are clamoring for change as they enter labor negotiations.
The AA pilots have even set up a Web site to collect passenger horror stories — they suggest that while they care about passengers the airline executives don’t.
I’m not sure what’s happening, but the FAA says American Airlines wasn’t communicating with it and AA says the FAA wasn’t talking. We passengers know that trouble communicating with airline is the norm. Even when the AA set up a blog for better customer communications, it flubbed — still no posts since April 28.
Hello? Anyone out there?
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