More Cancellations For Beleagured AA

American Airlines Losing Millions And Fliers' Goodwill; Nearly 600 More Flights Cancelled

(CBS/AP)  Air traveler angst continued on Friday as American Airlines grounded hundreds more flights. The number of canceled flights this week at American Airlines passed the 3,000 mark when the nation's largest carrier said 595 more flights would be scrubbed.

American said an undetermined number of flights would also be canceled Saturday, but it hoped to complete safety inspections of all its mid-range MD-80 aircraft by Saturday night.

The financial toll and loss of goodwill will likely grow as well, as the inspection-related mess spread further to other carriers and hurt an industry already bleeding cash thanks to high fuel costs.

American said it was cancelling 570 more flights on Friday - the fourth straight day of large-scale cancellations since the nation's largest airline learned that the wiring on 300 planes needed to be re-inspected.

Industry experts estimate American's revenue losses will range between $40 million to $50 million, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Lawmakers were asking questions and some fed-up air travelers headed for trains. Others gave the airlines a pass, saying the companies were doing the best they could.

"If somebody's got a choice between being in a plane crash and being late, is there a choice?" Jane Bernard, a writer from New York who was delayed by at least three hours en route from LaGuardia Airport to Miami, said Thursday.

Friday's cancellations hit hardest at Dallas-Fort Worth International and Chicago O'Hare airports, hubs through which American funnels many of its passengers.

Lines at DFW appeared back to normal Thursday, as more passengers learned of the cancelations before driving to the airport.

“There were a thousand people in here on Tuesday,” said Theresa Williamson, a nurse from Tucson, Ariz., who had her first flight home canceled Tuesday but was back at Terminal A on Thursday waiting in line to check her bags. “I felt bad for the employees, because there were only two or three of them.”

Just ahead of her in line was Veronica Johnson, a Washington-area resident who was in Dallas for a business meeting and finally found a flight home after the frustrations of being booked on four flights, only to have each one canceled.

“My employer was panicking, my kids were panicking, I was panicking,” Johnson said. “I just think they ought to be more conscious of how (the grounding of planes) affects their customers.”

American's top executives said they understand customers' anger, and they continued to offer mea culpas.

Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said he took responsibility and that neither American's mechanics nor the FAA were to blame.

Arpey said the cost would run into the tens of millions of dollars, but said gave no precise figure.

American had initially expected to cancel 570 Friday flights, but on Friday morning the airline raised the number to 595 - more than a quarter of its schedule.

That pushed the four-day total to around 3,100 canceled flights.

Alaska Airlines, Midwest Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. joined the wave, each canceling a small number of flights on MD-80 aircraft Thursday.

At least 250,000 passengers have been affected by the American cancellations this week alone.

Other carriers like Continental Airlines Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp., AirTran Airways and Northwest Airlines Corp. said they passed the first round of FAA audits with a clean slate and did not expect extra maintenance work or flight delays. It was impossible to say whether that could change since the FAA is conducting another round of safety audits.

The cancellations come at a time of high fuel prices and mixed success among the major air carriers at getting domestic fare increases to stick. The fact that airplanes are flying very full is making it difficult for airlines that cancel flights to find empty seats on other carriers to rebook their passengers.

"This disruption is severe," said Webster O'Brien, an industry expert with aviation consulting firm Simat, Helliesen & Eichner. "People are going to be unhappy. There isn't going to be an easy way to walk everybody out of it."

[jtormey3]

http://ejectsturgell.blogspot.com

Friday, April 11, 2008

Quiet Rockland Urges America To REJECT Robert A. (%u201CBobby%u201D) Sturgell As FAA Administrator

In the lyrics of Dewey Bunnell of the group America, from the 1971 song %u201CSandman%u201D:

%u201CAll the planes have been %u2013 grounded%u201D.

It%u2019s time to bring back America. The REAL America. The FAA is more broken than the cracked airplanes it purports to regulate. FAA Head %u201CBobby%u201D Sturgell is a losing legacy case %u2013 the son of J. Edgar Hoover%u2019s personal secretary, planted years later at the FAA, an agency that the powers-that-be assumed Sturgell could never screw up.

Well, that failed legacy case named %u201CBobby%u201D Sturgell DID screw it all up. Big time. The United States aviation system is now at flashpoint crisis.

Enter, Sandman.

Quiet Rockland opposes Robert A. %u201CBobby%u201D Sturgell%u2019s confirmation as FAA Administrator. Moreover, Quiet Rockland calls for %u201CBobby%u201D Sturgell%u2019s SUMMARY REMOVAL as Acting FAA Administrator.

%u201CBobby%u201D Sturgell is an abominable public official. The current regime of the FAA is a dismal nightmare. The FAA is a guileful federal agency still dwelling in the pocket of industry. Together, Sturgell, the FAA, and the airlines derisively and contemptuously laugh at you and me, the American people %u2013 the people to whom this country belongs.

But no more.

[bobnjersey]

[I am surprised there isn''''t a congressional investigation in Cheney''''s secret meeting with Oil executives and the planning of his oil and energy stragtegy.]
[Posted by yongamerica at 04:43 PM : Apr 11, 2008]

this was taken all the way to the ussc to gain access to the list of who was present ... and apparently since he was part of the executive branch (at that time) they ruled the info confidential due to executive privilege.

[sgtrds]

The Bush appointed FAA climbs into bed with top airline executives and allow them to skip or delay safety inspections because they cost too much time and money. Then whistle blowers blow the whistle on the practice and now the airlines find themselves losing money by grounding planes to do inspections that they should have done in the first place. Obviously the only way out now is another taxpayer funded bailout ala Bear Stearns! I mean we can''t allow these airline executives lose their 4th or 5th vacation homes or have to settle for a smaller yacht now can we!

[bobnjersey]

["If somebody''s got a choice between being in a plane crash and being late, is there a choice?" Jane Bernard, a writer from New York who was delayed by at least three hours en route from LaGuardia Airport to Miami, said Thursday.]

this isn''t the choice.

for the airline ... the choice is between a timely and conscienscious maintenance of the fleet ... vs ... waiting till the last minute and doing shoddy work.

so now ... for the passenger ... the choice is between an airline that does it right ... and one that doesn''t. that choice should be easy to make now.

[yongamerica]

This stuff is WAY blown out of proportion. After all, what could go wrong with a 160-thousand pound aluminum tube travelling 504 mph, seven miles above the earth with 300-or-so people on board? Huh? - DaVicar2

Apparently that''s how AA feels about the subject. The airlines were given 18 months to make this inspection. And AA waits until the inspection period is past due to begin.

[yongamerica]

I am surprised there isn''t a congressional investigation in Cheney''s secret meeting with Oil executives and the planning of his oil and energy stragtegy.

[coppertales]

Boeing issued a service bulletin two years ago addressing this problem. The FAA then issued an AD to comply with this problem and gave the airlines 18 months to comply. Appearantly, AA did not.

After all, when airlines are in financial difficulty, corners will be cut somewhere, just like any other business in trouble does. However, the head management will continue to pay themselves big bucks so if they get fired, they won''t be hurting. It is the "me" generation making their fortunes in quicktime.

[ixoye_02]

This whole situation is ridiculous. How can a business keep it''s customer when they strand passengers like this? It sounds more like "Oops, we just forgot to maintain our planes, so we will have to cancel your flight". It won''t travel by domestically by air if I can help it...I would rather drive if I can. I don''t see how the domestic airlines can retain their customers with these situations happening without plan.

[photogeezer]

How about the aircraft manufacturers who design and build the planes? Why weren''t MD, Boeing and others required to fix what they screwed up, plane by plane?

Boeing has been whining about not getting the tanker contract. Why give this contract to a company with a history of cracked fuselages?

Why not some blame for the Harvard MBA''s making one short-term gain, stupid decision after another? THEY are the ones causing messes like this and lost jobs.

Republican administrations have become known for lax oversight and too-cozy relationships between industry and regulatory agencies. We are seeing what happens when business is allowed to do as they please.

[bgwinnett]

More Cancellations For Beleagured AA

************************

The whole nation can''t have gone sober surely.What about Lindsey Lohan.

[barbaraf4]

Has anything been found as a result of these inspections?

[excoachken]

Why can''t our government do more to protect consumers, like those stranded by such incompetence? Not maintaining airplanes properly for the general public is very close to criminal action. We sue Doctors and lawyers for such "malpractice" so why can''t the stupid C.E.O. pay in the same way?

[hoosiermoon]

Why would anyone remain a loyal customer of American after this?? People are going to fly American only if that is the last option they have. 4 airlines have file bankruptcy recently. American will be the 5th very soon. All because of the crooks in top management.

[tremdis]

This is why I fly Continental.

[docpeter-2009]

From the article, "Industry experts estimate American''s revenue losses will range between $40 million to $50 million, reports." Last year AA showed a big profit, that was ultimately divvied up as bonuses to the execs. Last year AA knew or should have known that these repairs were needed/required. Someone should be asking why were execs given bonuses and repairs not made? If I was an AA ticket holder I would be more concerned about their total lack of following safety procedures than about the inconvenience of having to change flight plans.

[pensacola88]

I think the public fools theirself when I read some of these posts, because we saw just last month where Southwest Airlines paid $10.2 million for failing to comply with an airworthiness directive, and they still had to comply.

The consumer''s punitive-minded scorn to inconvenience is usually shortened when they stop and think about their own personal automobile and think about the neglect it receives.

Consumers are throw-away minded, but American Airlines clearly are not.

Cancelled flights clearly erode profits off the bottom line, but court fights and voucher claims paid for maintenence delayed flights have far more lasting impacts.

Controlling is a great lure for many with things to cope with. Accepting is a far better coping skill.