Friday, April 11, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Second Congressional Hearing on FAA Set for Senate on Thursday
Following last week's House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing in which two whistle blowers came forward to tell of FAA-Southwest Airlines coziness impeding airline safety compliance oversight, the Senate is convening its own hearing this week:
Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Subcommittee Aviation Safety Oversight Hearing: Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Thursday, April 10, 2008
10:00 AM
SR - 253
Although the U.S. aviation industry is experiencing its safest period in history there have been a series of high-profile events that have raised concerns regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) oversight of safety in the National Airspace System (NAS). The FAA recently proposed fining Southwest Airlines $10.2 million for operating over 40 aircraft that had not received all required safety inspections. Subsequent FAA audits of maintenance records have resulted in a number of other air carriers grounding planes while they ensure their aircraft comply with safety regulations.
In addition, there is continuing Congressional interest in other key safety issues, including runway incursions, operational errors and the FAA’s oversight of maintenance operations. This hearing will examine these safety issues, and the FAA’s implementation of the Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS), the new systematic approach the agency has implemented to address safety oversight.
In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.
A few details from the Wall Street Journal's top notch Andy Pasztor:
Southwest's violations have sparked investigations by committees in both the House and the Senate, with preliminary indications that a number of other U.S. airlines in recent years have experienced similar safety lapses. Testifying Thursday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, witnesses, including the Department of Transportation's inspector general and the union that represents FAA safety inspectors, gave examples of what they contend were violations of maintenance, training or operational rules at a number of carriers.
A Senate aviation safety and security subcommittee is planning to delve into some of the same issues in a coming hearing. Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the panel's chairman, has said that the Southwest revelations "have thrown a cloud over" the agency, prompting lawmakers to pursue "a comprehensive review of the FAA's safety operations" and likely resulting in "additional steps to make sure our aviation system remains the safest in the world."
Witnesses:
Panel 1
Mr. Hank Krakowski, Chief Operating Officer, Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration
The Honorable Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation
Mr. Basil Barimo, Vice President of Operations and Safety, Air Transport Association
The Honorable Steven R. Chealander, Member, National Transportaion Safety Board
Nicholas Sabatini, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Federal Aviation Administration
Mr. Tom Brantley, President, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
Should make for another interesting day on Capitol Hill.
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Diane Rehm Show Explores FAA and Airline Safety Inspections
This morning NPR's ever-informative Diane Rehm Show devoted a full hour to the issue of recent problems besetting the FAA. Very informative program, and well worth taking the time for a listen. [Real Audio :: Windows Media]
Details:
The Federal Aviation Administration comes under scrutiny as former inspectors raise concerns about how the agency conducts safety inspections of the airlines. A look at whether the FAA is too close to the industry it regulates…
Guests
Del Quentin Wilber, national aviation reporter, "The Washington Post"
Michael Boyd, aviation consultant
Rep. John Mica (R-FL), ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
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Saturday, April 5, 2008
Skybus Airlines: Third U.S. Carrier to Shut Down This Week
A breathtaking week for the airline industry as Skybus Airlines ceases its operations, the week's third carrier -- alongside Aloha and ATA -- to fold in the face of soaring fuel costs and a tanking U.S. economy.
A fourth carrier, Champion Air, will shut down as of May 31.
The latest shuttering has created turmoil at airports dealing with stranded passengers. It's also left cities like Columbus, Ohio, holding the bag after investing millions in airport improvements following the fledgling carrier's arrival just last year.
Howard Altschiller for Seacoast Online:
A pall hung over Pease International Airport Saturday morning as stranded passengers, airport workers and vendors grappled with the news that Skybus Airlines had suddenly stopped flying.
Some passengers frantically booked flights on other airlines, making their way to Logan and Manchester. Others rented cars to drive home or to their destinations. Local workers said they were shocked by the news and concerned about the future. Thirty one employees of Port City Air, the local company that handled all Skybus’s customer service at Pease, had to wonder if they’d keep their jobs.
“We were all shocked to hear the news of the Skybus’ sudden closing last night,” Port City Air president Bob Jesurum wrote in a memo to his employees. “As recently as this past week, we had been reassured by senior officials at Skybus that everything was ‘fine and that they were looking at Portsmouth for future growth as a focus city.’ ”
In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.
From the Associated Press:
WXII-Channel 12 [Greensboro-Winston-Salem] also has a full report up on YouTube, but has disabled embedding. View it here. Paul Makishima for the Boston Globe:
Dearly departed Skybus launched just last year and made a splash by offering 10 seats, each for $10, on every flight. They saved money by charging for EVERYTHING: water, checked bags, pillows. They also shaved costs by flying into places that don't get used much--or at all...
One of those off-the-beaten-path cities was Gary, Ind., with Skybus service (to Greensboro, N.C.) launched only a few short weeks ago. The Chicago Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch recently gave an inside look at the unique service the carrier offered its passengers via words and video:
Although I was not lucky enough to snag a $10 airfare that Skybus offers on 10 seats aboard every flight, my round-trip ticket was $142, including taxes and fees. On the day I booked the airfare on the Internet, the same non-stop itinerary to Greensboro from O'Hare International Airport was $756.48 on United Airlines and $1,118.97 on US Airways. ...
It took little time for the 17 passengers on my flight to go through screening conducted by the Transportation Security Administration and board the 154-seat Airbus A319 aircraft that Skybus operates on all its routes. ...
Shortly after takeoff, flight attendant Inna Djaniants was working the cabin's captive audience over the intercom system, asking for a show of hands on how many people paid less than $200, less than $100 or just $10 for their tickets. She explained that Skybus keeps fares low by hawking food, beverages and other items on each flight. Passengers are prohibited from bringing their own drinks or food onboard.
Passenger Kimberly Nelson, 31, a supervisor for a financial company in Charlotte, said: "I always wanted to go to Chicago over St. Patrick's Day. Thirty-two bucks round-trip, including taxes, you can't beat it. Skybus reminds me of Southwest Airlines when I flew it 15 years ago. It has the same kind of energy."
Unfortunately, things have changed quite rapidly for Skybus passengers in the new economy. From WBBH-Channel 2 [Florida]:
Confused and frustrated customers flooded into the Charlotte County Airport Saturday. The abrupt Skybus bankruptcy left many people stranded, wondering how this could happen and how they will get home.
Normally when you walk into the Skybus terminal at the Charlotte County Airport, either you go to the kiosks or to the help desk. But Saturday, the first thing people saw was a set of notices from Skybus letting people know they will not be offering any more flights. Right now, all flights are grounded and people like Ashley Fowlkes are trying to figure out how to get their loved ones home.
"Anything they can, I guess. They may have to rent a car and drive home. They may have to buy another late notice plane ticket which could be like $800," said Fowlkes.
Brandon Swartzlander and his family also had their dream vacation turn into a nightmare. He thought Skybus' $10 tickets seemed like a pretty good deal - until they found out they had no way to get home.
"It was a good deal," said Swartzlander. "And then you get blindsided at midnight last night. There's no way home." Perhaps what is worse is how he and his family found out. "I was flipping through the channels and I caught a glimpse of a Skybus plane and I heard them say, 'We'll tell you how it affected stranded passengers' and I thought to myself, that's odd," said Swartzlander.
But moments later it all made sense. He realized he'd lost the money he'd already paid for the tickets back to Ohio. Plus, he had to start searching and scouring the internet for an alternative way home - not an easy task for a family of eight. "Just for the eight of us to fly Southwest, it's going to cost us an additional $1,500," said Swartzlander's wife Jeanne.
Passengers aren't the only ones affected. From AP:
Skybus Airlines' $57 million in government incentives weren't enough to sustain its discount flights that ended today. The Columbus-based company plans to file for bankruptcy protection in the coming days.
The company's collapse will leave Port Columbus International Airport with fewer flights and about 350 Ohio residents without jobs. It will also leave the state and Columbus with a heavy investment that yielded just 10 months of air service. Port Columbus invested millions in terminal improvements tailored to the Columbus-based airline. It now has five open gates, a ticket counter and some soon-to-be-emptied offices.
More from the Columbus Dispatch:
The decision, made after a board meeting yesterday, left hundreds of Skybus ticketholders stranded and its 450 employees out of work. The company has lost millions of dollars and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. Its chief executive, Bill Diffenderffer, resigned nearly two weeks ago.
Skybus workers were stunned by the news yesterday. About a dozen employees gathered at the Skybus ticket counter, some taking pictures. Some were upset and crying, asking each other what they plan to do. Workers from other airlines came up to wish them well and tell them they will be missed. ...
Mike Boyd of the Colorado-based Boyd Group also has been a critic of the Skybus model, but he expressed surprise at the swiftness of the airline's demise.
"They had a dumb model. The original plan never had a chance, at $50-a-barrel oil or $100-a-barrel oil," he said. "But I really thought someone could come in and turn it around. The pressures on airlines today are very different than they have been in the past. They're shutting down suddenly now to preserve whatever assets they have for the creditors." ...
Skybus got off to a strong start last summer, bringing tens of thousands more passengers through Port Columbus. In turn, the airport added parking spaces and raked in millions in additional parking revenue as it reached an all-time record passenger count of more than 7.7 million for 2007.
But Skybus hit a rough patch during the winter. With a very short window between flights and a crush of flights all leaving within an hour of each other first thing in the morning, dealing with ice and snow took its toll on on-time performance. The airline had to cancel more than a dozen flights Christmas Day and the day after, when two of its seven planes went out of commission as a result of mechanical problems.
Poor performance coupled with a lack of customer service took its toll. Passenger numbers dropped in the slow months of January and February, as the airline struggled to build up its new base in Greensboro, N.C. Route cuts last month were quickly followed by the replacement of the CEO by former Chief Financial Officer Hodge, who was charged with improving performance and stemming losses.
But it was apparently too little, too late to turn the airline around.
WGHP-FOX:
The airline made 74 daily flight to 15 U.S. cities. It has about 350 employees in Columbus and 100 at a second hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport. On Mar. 19, the airline held interviews for flight attendant positions at PTI. Nearly two weeks ago, the carrier named Mike Hodge as the company's new chief executive officer. Hodge replaced Bill Diffenderffer, and had previously served as chief financial officer for Skybus.
Increasing customer service problems were cited, one being its interesting form of passenger communication as noted by Tom Barlow at WalletPop:
Intially, Skybus was best known for its policy of reserving at least ten spots on each flight to sell for $10 each. Later, it gained notoriety as the airline that could not be contacted by telephone, refusing to deal with customer service problems except by e-mail. When it ran into maintenance problems with a couple of jets on the same day recently and had to cancel a number of flights, its customer non-service brought a great deal of negative press.
As for Skybus labor, they also had email communication to contend with -- of a more worrying kind -- as Marla Matzer Rose of the Columbus Dispatch pointed out last month. The pilots were also quickly moving to become Teamsters:
The pilots for Skybus Airlines are attempting to unionize, with more than 80 percent favoring a vote by next month to join the Teamsters. ... "If the Teamsters are certified, the way this airline is run is going to change," said aviation consultant Michael Boyd of Colorado-based Boyd Group, who has been a critic of the Skybus business model. "The next group will be the flight attendants. I think the employees are saying, 'We just can't work at these rates.' "
Skybus, which was notified late last week of the action, said in a statement that the company is surprised to be facing a "union organizing effort when the airline industry is dealing with a slowing economy and oil prices" that are nearly $108 a barrel.
"We believe that a majority of our pilots will understand that we are better served focusing on building a start-up airline in a very competitive environment than we are going down a path that for other airlines has led to contentious labor-management issues," the statement said.
The starting salary for a Skybus captain is $65,000, while a less-senior first officer makes $30,000 to start. Pilots say those amounts are as much as 50 percent below industry standards, and Skybus pilots say the airline is not offering second-year pay increases. Still, Skybus has been able to attract experienced pilots with stock options and the opportunity to be home every night, because all planes return to either Columbus or the second base of Greensboro, N.C. ...
Victoria Gray, a spokeswoman for the airline division of the Teamsters, confirmed that the union has collected more than the required number of cards from Skybus pilots to proceed. The Teamsters asks for 65 percent of eligible employees to "submit cards" indicating they want to join the union; the organization then notifies the National Mediation Board of the vote and asks the airline for its employee list. The mediation board requires a simple majority for passage of a vote to join a union. Gray said that by this timeline, she would expect Skybus pilots to join the Teamsters Local 747 out of Houston by April.
Skybus has about 140 pilots, nearly 120 of whom are eligible to vote. In a phone interview yesterday, a Skybus pilot speaking on condition of anonymity said he was one of the more than 100 pilots who submitted cards favoring union membership.
The pilot said he still thinks the basic Skybus model is a sound one, and that the company can succeed. But he said pilots have become angered by having their work rules changed via e-mail with no direct communication and by being told that pay raises would come only in the form of profit sharing after the airline has a full year of profitability. ...
Extreme penny-pinching also has gotten on the pilots' nerves. In the pilots' lounge, "They took away the bottled water recently because they said it cost too much," the pilot said. "They got us these cheap plastic containers to fill up and take on the plane, but they leaked. They admitted they made a mistake and gave us bottled water again. But to save the delivery cost, they have pilots on their off-hours go to Costco and pick up cases of water and deliver them to the airport."
From Aero-News Net:
This week will go down as one of the worst ever for US airlines, as no fewer than four carriers -- Aloha Airlines, Champion Air, ATA Airlines, and now Skybus -- folded up shop this week, or announced imminent plans to do so. A fifth airline, Sun Country Airlines, announced it will place nearly 30 percent of its pilots on furlough over the summer, though company officials says it plans to rehire them in late October.
Related Posts
Friday, April 4, 2008
ATA Airlines Becomes Second Carrier in a Week to Fold
More bad news arrives with the folding of ATA, the second airline in a week to abruptly cancel all flights and cease operations. Dawn Gilbertson and Toby Phillips for the Arizona Republic:
ATA Airlines, which offered daily nonstop service between Phoenix and Hawaii, suddenly shut down overnight after filing for bankruptcy. The last flight to operate was a Honolulu-to-Phoenix red eye due into Sky Harbor International Airport this morning. ...
Indianapolis-based ATA, which has been struggling financially and recently ended its Chicago operations, blamed the shutdown on the loss of a key military charter flight contract. Many passengers aboard the final ATA flight from Honolulu this morning said they were thankful that they made it to the mainland, but many others didn't know how or when they would be able to get back.
"I didn't realize that there was no flight returning when I left," said Hannah Smith, in Phoenix to visit family. ATA typically offered the cheapest tickets to the islands, Smith said. "That's where I live," she said. "I've got to get back."
Frances Fuller said she lives in Hawaii about half of every year, flying to and from Phoenix often. "I have about $1600 worth of plane tickets booked," Fuller said. She was unsure what her next steps would be. "My bank card company certainly wont give me a refund," she said.
Shocked that the airline gave no warning of the shutdown, Fuller said she felt for those who were suddenly without jobs. When agents gave passengers the news that all other flights would be canceled, Fuller said, "All I kept thinking was that they all just lost their jobs."
"It was a very sad morning."
In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.
From WISH-TV Channel 8:
From KGMB-Channel 9 (video at link):
Getting to the mainland is no easy feat for stranded ATA passengers. One day after the carrier folded, hundreds paid to hop on a special flight to the west coast, but thousands more are still looking for seats. The frustration is growing at Honolulu International Airport. Long lines and lots of waiting as another round of stranded ATA airlines passengers scramble to find seats out of Hawaii.
"I just need, I gotta go to school. I can't be down here forever," said Florianne Molina of Vallejo California. Fortunately, Florianne Molina and nearly 300 others left with useless ATA tickets got out on a special Hawaiian airlines flight to San Francisco. But they did have to pay for it. $320 each.
Lieutenant Colonel Loren Weeks on vacation before deployment to the war zone also got a seat, but his travel problems aren't over yet. "I'm heading to Kansas to get possibly another ATA, well, flight to fly us into theater, and who knows that flight's on hold as well," said Weeks.
George Avalos for the San Jose Mercury News:
ATA's abrupt demise marked the second time this week that a major carrier serving the Oakland-Hawaii route suddenly terminated operations. On Monday, Aloha Airlines halted operations, just days after it had filed for bankruptcy. Aloha's collapse also erased flights between Oakland and Hawaii, along with other destinations.
ATA blamed the loss of a military contract for its shutdown. The airline said it depended on the revenue from the government deal tooffset a "tremendous spike in the cost of jet fuel." Aloha blamed its shutdown on soaring fuel prices and fierce competition in the mainland-to-Hawaii corridor.
Passengers who arrived at the Oakland airport Thursday were greeted by a deserted ATA counter and signs that stated the airline had filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. "Now what? I don't know what to do," said Ed Mitchell, who was traveling with his wife, Chang Chi, and their two sons from Seattle to Hawaii. "I've been all over the world. This is the first time we've gotten stuck."
The Mitchell family had planned a birthday celebration on Maui for children Ivan, 9 and Ian, 8. "I hope we get a plane," Ivan said. "We've been planning this for a long time." ... "This is very challenging for our airport," said Robert Bernardo, a spokesman for the Oakland airport. "We no longer have direct flights to Hawaii. Since 2000, we had direct flights to the Hawaiian islands."
Together, ATA and Aloha accounted for 4.8 percent of the Oakland airport's 14.6million departing passengers during 2007, Bernardo said. That equates to about 700,800 passengers. ATA represented about 3.4 percent, or 496,400 passengers leaving the airport. Aloha generated about 1.8 percent of the business, or 204,400 passengers.
"We are working very hard to find other carriers who will provide that service to Hawaii," Bernardo said. Officials were hopeful the airport could land one or more replacements before long.
Unusual measures are being used to help stranded passengers notes Mary Forgione for the Los Angeles Times:
The Hawaii Tourism Authority is going to pay for charter flights to help the estimated 9,000 tourists stranded on the islands since ATA went under this week — the first time the agency has spent money on such a venture.
“We’ve never done this before and we hope we’ll never have to do it again,” Rex Johnson, chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said today after the agency had an emergency meeting to authorize funding.
Ted Evanoff and Zach Dunkin for the Indianapolis Star report on the employee reaction:
Two years after emerging from bankruptcy, ATA Airlines filed for Chapter 11 again today, surprising employees who doubt the Indianapolis-based carrier will ever fly again.
ATA, founded in the city in 1973, was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2006 by the New York investment firm Matlin Patterson. Laid-off pilots hope to secure new jobs with the other two carriers the investor has bought over the last two years - North American and World Airways, both based in Atlanta and part of Matlin's Global Aero Logistics.
Employees including pilots and flight attendants lashed out today at the management installed since the original October 2004 bankruptcy filing. "The most glaring single factor in cessation of operations was grossly incompetent management from the time of the bankruptcy going forward," said Seth Cooperman, a Boeing 737 pilot at ATA.
Dropping the New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan routes sapped passengers from the West Coast leisure routes to Hawaii even as fuel prices rose and the airline spent heavily to bring online mothballed DC10s, employees said. A deal with Southwest Airlines funneled passengers to certain routes shared by both carriers, but Cooperman said it appears the transaction was not profitable enough to sustain the carrier.
"They’ve closed their doors. It doesn’t look like they are going to reopen,’’ said Jacki Pritchett, an ATA flight attendant since the 1970s.
ATA employs 2,300, including about 560 workers in Indianapolis. Local employment alone is down from more than 2,000 employees four years ago when the discount carrier was the nation's No. 10 passenger airline and the largest carrier serving Indianapolis. All the local routes were dropped in bankruptcy, including the popular Indianapolis-to-Florida flights.
Southwest in turn took over many of those routes.
The scathing response by ATA's pilot's union, ALPA:
The union representing the pilots of ATA Airlines is condemning the airline's management for its callous disregard of its employees and passengers in canceling all operations without warning early on Thursday morning.
"By shutting down in the middle of the night, this management group has let down its loyal customers and the flight crews, cabin crews, mechanics, and other employees who have made deep sacrifices over the past few years to keep ATA afloat," said Capt. Steve Staples, chairman of the ATA unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l. "It shows an utter lack of respect and illustrates the ruthlessness of Wall Street hedge fund managers who have no knowledge or interest in the companies they own."
ALPA was notified at approximately 4:00 a.m. Central time that the airline was filing for bankruptcy and shutting down all operations immediately. The airline's last flight was ATA Flight 4586, a morning red-eye from Honolulu to Phoenix that was scheduled to land at 8:34 a.m. Pacific time.
"ATA's customers and employees had absolutely no warning that the airline was going out of business," Staples said. "This abrupt withdrawal is the airline equivalent of getting on the last helicopter out of Saigon."
The April 3 announcement that ATA is ceasing operations is two days shy of the first anniversary of ATA's announcement that its holding company was buying World Airways and North American Airlines. On April 5, 2007, ATA Holdings changed its name to Global Aero Logistics (GAL) and, in August 2007 completed the transaction that gave it three airlines: ATA, World, and North American. GAL is privately held by the hedge fund MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners II.
"We find it unusually coincidental that ALPA, which was in contract negotiations with ATA and had the best opportunity to change our collective bargaining agreement to reflect the new realities of the industry, was suddenly forced to shut down while World and North American will continue operating under the Global Aero Logistics banner," Staples said.
"Since when does the acquiring airline go out of business while the acquired airlines keep flying?"
Staples said that all ATA employees are the ultimate victims of a series of incompetent managers who chose to blame economic conditions for the airline's problems instead of admitting their own mistakes.
"We were telling management two years ago that they needed to institute a fuel management program, and even found a fuel consultant who offered to work with the company - but our overtures to help ATA reduce its fuel costs were repeatedly ignored," he said. "Management decided to outsource virtually all of our maintenance, then acquired elderly, unreliable DC-10s that needed extensive repairs. The ripple effect of years of poor management decisions - not the current economy - was what doomed ATA."
Staples said the union's top priority is making sure that all 585 ATA pilots and flight engineers find new jobs, especially since part of ATA's fleet has been transferred to World Airways and more airplanes could go to World and North American later.
"Our position is that we are pilots of Global Aero Logistics, which is still operating, and we deserve to be in the cockpits of Global's airliners. Our contract says that the pilots go with the airplanes, and we will use every legal means available to us to ensure that our members' rights are protected," he said.
Hawaii is holding a job fairs for Aloha and ATA employees now out of work due to the shutdowns. Melinda Peer at Forbes looks at the business aspects of the events of this week:
On Thursday, ATA Airlines became the latest carrier to land itself in bankruptcy, citing high fuel prices, competition and the U.S. economic slowdown.
The complaints have become a refrain for the beleaguered airline industry and aren't expected to get better anytime soon. In early April, the International Air Transport Association cut its 2008 industry earnings forecast for the second time just a day after reporting that February's global passenger load factor slipped 0.6% from a year ago.
"The broadening impact of the U.S. credit crunch has brought buoyant consumer confidence to an abrupt end. Oil prices continue to rise. Demand is softening and after the 64% improvement in labor productivity and an 18% reduction in non-fuel unit cost attained since 2001, efficiency gains are much more difficult to achieve," said Giovanni Bisignani, the association's chief executive.
More analysis from David Field for Airline Business:
Fuel has gone from 1.25 cents per available seat mile for the majors in the second quarter of 2000 to 3.50 cents in 2007's second quarter, Swelbar notes, adding that labour costs dropped from 3.50 per ASM to 3.00 cents between the same periods.
Although ATA operated only 29 jets, it had a long history and was an early proponent of a blending of the low-fare model with the network model. But ATA had gradually retreated from the low-fare scheduled business as it increasingly came to rely on charter business and on effective "virtual charters" it operated as codeshares for Southwest Airlines. Much like Aloha, it had gone through a bankruptcy from which it emerged as private carrier in late 2004. ...
At ATA, the challenge came when one of its major charter customers, FedEx, announced it would not be renewing ATA's military charter sub-contract for the next US government fiscal year, which begins in October. ATA said the contract was supposed to last another year. ATA had already trimmed its scheduled service dramatically, announcing a month ago that it would end all service at Chicago Midway, the airport it had made synonymous with low fares, and would also end its West Coast/Hawaii service in June. Southwest, which said its arrangements with ATA also ended on 4 April, had expanded its Midway presence significantly by buying ATA gates at the airport. ...
George Hamlin, a consultant with ACA Associates, called Hawaii "a microcosm of the US market: a duopoly of Aloha and the larger Hawaiian Airlines in a market that could not sustain the entry of an additional carrier in this fuel-price environment". Hamlin thinks other airline failures are entirely possible, and that Columbus, Ohio-based Skybus could fail "relatively soon". The larger US carriers may have enough cash for the year, says Calyon Securities analyst Ray Neidl, but "if high fuel prices and a lacklustre economy persist through 2009, cash reserves at many airlines might become a concern".
This week also claimed a smaller charter carrier, Champion Air, which said it was hobbled by its fuel-swilling Boeing 727s and would end its operations in May. Champion said it too lost a major customer when Northwest Airlines' vacations subsidiary MLT said it would stop using the carrier.
Elsewhere in the USA, Sun Country said it would furlough 45 of its 156 pilots for the summer in a 30% cutback forced on it by the cost of fuel. The decision was made by the privately held low-cost carrier's new chief executive, former AirTran chief financial officer Stan Gadek.
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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Gears Up for Important Thursday Hearing
Tomorrow the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be called to order by Chairman Jim Oberstar. In the wake of today's United Airlines 777 fleet grounding (after the airline found that checks to its fire-suppression system were not completed as required), the Critical Lapses in FAA Safety Oversight of Airlines: Abuses of Regulatory "Partnership Programs" hearing couldn't come at a better time.
The hearing follows lapses in FAA oversight of maintenance at Southwest Airlines, which resulted in the carrier's grounding of aircraft on March 11, 2008:
Southwest Airlines says it grounded 41 planes last night as the airline deals with fallout from using aircraft that had not gone through a required inspection for possible structural damage. Spokeswoman Christi Day says the move resulted in some flights being canceled Wednesday, but she doesn't have a precise figure.
The move comes as Southwest faces a $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes after the airline admitted that it had missed required inspections of the planes for structural cracks. Southwest also put three employees on leave after being notified of the penalty by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Committee's live webcast stream begins Thursday morning at 10 a.m. EST.
In educational interest, article(s) quoted from extensively.
Dave Michaels and Terry Maxon over at the Dallas Morning News give some background on the time leading up to the grounding:
The Dallas-based airline is reeling from regulatory and congressional investigations of its decision last year to continue flying planes – some with fuselage cracks – that should have been grounded pending inspections. ...
Wednesday's action addresses a different directive from the inspections that the airline missed last year. Southwest said it grounded the jets after confronting some confusion Tuesday night about the way the inspections should be done. The airline visually inspected areas above and below the aircraft's windows, but noticed that the regulation also required a more sensitive test using electrical "eddy" currents that detect hidden defects.
"The inspections were done," Ms. Harbin said. "It was the method of the inspection – visual versus eddy current – that we had the question about." ...
In March 2007, Southwest disclosed the failures that prompted the fine. That reporting should have prompted the airline to ground the jets until they could be checked. But with the tacit approval of an FAA supervisor in Irving, Southwest kept flying the aircraft as it did the inspections over about eight days.
CNN fleshes out the situation:
The FAA has said Southwest operated 46 Boeing 737s on nearly 60,000 flights between June 2006 and March 2007 while failing to comply with an FAA directive requiring repeated inspections of fuselage areas to detect fatigue cracking.
The FAA also alleges that after Southwest discovered it had failed to comply, it continued to operate the same planes on an additional 1,451 flights in March 2007. The airline later found that six of the 46 planes had fatigue cracks, the FAA said.
Documents provided to CNN show that another 70 Southwest jets were allowed to fly past the deadline for the mandatory rudder inspections. Those documents also say that 47 planes -- one more than reported by the FAA -- flew without their mandatory fuselage inspections. In some cases, according to the documents the FAA provided to congressional investigators, the planes flew for 30 months past government inspection deadlines and should have grounded them until the inspections could be completed.
The documents were prepared by two FAA safety inspectors who have requested whistle-blower status from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Both inspectors have been subpoenaed to testify before the committee.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, who heads the committee and who has called the situation "one of the worst safety violations" he has ever seen, is scheduled to hold a hearing April 3 to ask why the airline may have allegedly put its passengers in danger. The whistle-blowers say FAA managers knew about the lapse in safety at Southwest, but decided to allow the airline to conduct the safety checks on a slower schedule because taking "aircraft out of service would have disrupted Southwest Airlines' flight schedule."
Hearing details:
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will meet on Thursday, April 3, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building to review the results of an oversight investigation into questions of conduct violating the Federal Aviation Regulations in the inspection and maintenance program.
Witnesses slated (written testimonies will post after hearing):
Panel 1
Mr. Charalambe "Bobby" Boutris, Aviation Safety Inspector and Boeing 737-700 Partial Program Manager for Aircraft, Southwest Airlines Certificate Management Office
Mr. Douglas E. Peters, Aviation Safety Inspector and Boeing 757 Partial Program Manager, American Airlines Certification Unit, AMR CMO
Mr. Michael C. Mills, Assistant Manager, Dallas Fort Worth Flight Standards District Office
Mr. Paul E. Cotti, Supervisor, American Eagle Airworthiness Unit, AMR CMO
Mr. Robert A. Naccache, Ret. Assistant Manager, SWA CMO
Mr. Terry D. Lambert, Manager, Safety and Analysis Group, Flight Standards Division
FAA Southwest Region
Panel 2
The Honorable Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation
The Honorable Scott J. Bloch, Special Counsel, U.S. Office of the Special Counsel
Mr. Nicholas A. Sabatini, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Federal Aviation Administration
Mr. James J. Ballough, Director, Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration
Mr. Thomas Stuckey, Manager, Flight Standards Division, FAA Southwest Region
Panel 3
Mr. Herb Kelleher, Executive Chairman, Southwest Airlines Co.
Mr. Gary Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines Co.
Mr. Vincent Larry Collamore, Aviation Safety Inspector, SWA CMO
Mr. John Bassler, Principal Avionics Inspector, Dallas Fort Worth, FSDO
Panel 4
Mr. Tom Brantley, President, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
Mr. Richard A. Andrews, Aviation Safety Inspector, American Eagle Operation Unit Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
Mr. Joseph P. Thrash, Ret. Aviaton Safety Inspector, Continental Airlines CMO
Mr. Bill McNease, Ret. Aviation Safety Inspector, FedEx CMO
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