American Shuts Down

Well, not in the same sense that everyone else has been lately... Over the past two days, AA put most of its MD80 fleet on the ground for re-inspection. And yes, the same inspection that forced them to ground the MD80 fleet two weeks earlier...

I've tried not to write about AA's problems, but it's just too big to ignore. Over the past two weeks, AA's been caught under the FAA's scrutiny, and it's been ugly to say the least.

The cause of the FAA's scrutiny?

Tie wraps... AA completed an airworthiness directive on their MD80 fleet, which involved a wiring bundle. Apparently, the FAA thinks that the exact spacing of the ties securing the wiring bundle was not done to specifications... Some of them are 1", some are 1.3", some are 0.5"...

The FAA, who has been so concerned about your safety over the years, has determined that being off by more than a quarter of an inch is a threat to your safety....

Sorry, but as much as I want my planes to be safe, I'm having a hard time accepting the concept that the spacing of a piece of string or wire securing a wiring bundle is a threat to the safety of flight. It's not. It's over reacting, and there's nothing AA can do except kiss the FAA's butt.

Why AA?

Got me. It could have been any airline, except for Southwest.

Southwest? Aren't they the ones who screwed up last week? Yep. And they made the FAA look like fools in front of Congress and the world. So, if Southwest had been the target, it would have looked like retribution.

So AA gets to be the sacrificial lamb for the FAA's and industry's indiscretions...