Here’s the question: Is it safe to fly during times when commercial airlines are under grinding economic stress?
American Airlines Flight 48 had just taken off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, at the start of a nine-hour overnight flight to Paris on April 20, when flight attendants heard an alarming noise from the bottom of the plane. According to one source, the sound was of “vibrating, shaking, even some ripping.”
Alerted to the noise by flight attendants, the trio of pilots in the cockpit -- two of them Miami-based -- considered their options. One of the pilots got on a phone line to the dispatch center at American headquarters in Fort Worth and then to the maintenance center in Tulsa. According to an internal memo from an unidentified flight safety official, “the pilots and TUL Tech thought [the sounds] may have been [from] a cargo shift of some sort.”
The memo added that “there were no indications in the cockpit, no warning lights or airframe vibrations felt.”
No doubt you heard yesterday that Fort Worth-based American Airlines will, beginning May 12, charge $25 for a second checked bag -- if, course, yer flying coach. The reason's obvious: rising fuel costs and the need to cover the tab, one piece of luggage at a time. Well, today Fortune posted a lengthy piece about American and its CEO, Gerard Arpey, in which he sorta-kinda discusses the state and fate of "the only so-called legacy carrier to have avoided Chapter 11," which is nonetheless estimated to be losing $3.3 million ... a day. Only, perhaps our Friend Mr. Wagner can explain this line: "The company is rolling out software to identify flights for which passengers will pay extra." Because I have no idea what that means, unless American's now serving the Fourth Dimension. For that, sure, I'd pay extra. --Robert Wilonsky
Busy day at City Hall: Aside from the animal-ownership restrictions under consideration today during the Quality of Life and Government Services Committee's powwow, the Transportation and Environment Committee will take up the discussion of modernizing Love Field Airport, per the Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006. The city's among the five parties that agreed to the legislation in '06 -- also signing off were, of course, Fort Worth, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and American and Southwest airlines -- and it's on the hook for between $150 and $200 million to bring Love Field up to snuff as the Wright Amendments goes adios completely come 2014.
Don't count on the redo taking shape by then; expect it to happen closer to 2017, as the master plan under discussion today says, "Ability to achieve 2014 completion goal will require a creative approach to development." (The bold type's theirs, not ours.) There are three options on the table thus far, which will run between $357 and $608 million -- and all of which will involve a major overhaul of the West Concourse at the very least. In fact, the so-called Option "C," which the city's favoring at the moment, suggests: "Demolish East, North and West Concourses and replace with new North Concourse with 20 gates." In other words, you're not gonna love Love in coming years, not at all. The master plan goes before the council for approval on May 21. --Robert Wilonsky
Courtesy the Associated Press today, another reason why you picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue:
The Federal Aviation Administration is trying for a second time in three years to stop its managers in Texas from covering up air safety violations. FAA chief operating officer Hank Krakowski said Thursday he had removed the manager and assistant manager of an air traffic control facility in Dallas-Fort Worth.
In unrelated news, Leon is getting laaaaarrrrrger. By which I mean, via USA Today, "Dallas air-traffic controllers systematically hid their involvement in safety errors that brought planes too close together, federal officials said Thursday." --Robert Wilonsky
Intriguing item just posted to The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal blog. Something to do with the headline: "American Airlines: Preparing For a Sale?" It's a short item, but a complicated one involving AMR, American's parent company, and the pending sale of its asset-management business, which is owned by Dallas-based Pharos Capital Group and Fort Worth-based TPG Capital, as well as its ditching American Eagle. And, of course, there's the news today that AMR lost $328 million during the first quarter of this year -- after making $81 mil during the same period in '07. --Robert Wilonsky
All the seats in Terminal C at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were empty late Thursday afternoon. At each gate, 20 to 30 people, most loaded down with duffel bags or with small suitcases at their feet, stood bewildered in queue. I was scurrying to gate C20 with my boarding pass in hand, thinking how lucky I was to get on this “on-time” flight. (My original flight was canceled, but the customer service agent said this was a “sure thing.”) Everyone at my gate was in line too.
“You trying to get to Omaha?” a thirtysomething man asked me. Trying? Turns out the flight just got canceled. The airline didn't announce the change, but merely removed the Omaha listing from the departures screen. Those gathered at gate C20 were miffed that 15 minutes before boarding, American Airlines had canceled another of our flights -- without even announcing it.
The New York Times this morning recounts the tale of seven Navy recruits stranded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, courtesy American Airlines' copious cancellations this week. Among their lot: 25-year-old Karin Peyregne, a mother of two from Mobile trying to get to the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois, who left home with only $10 in her pocket. Which would have been OK, except Peyregne and her comrades have been stuck here since Tuesday without so much as a change of clothes; they were supposed to be on an 8 a.m. to Chicago today, but good luck with all that.
So how have they managed since they took up residence at DFW? Says the paper: "Her group has lived off U.S.O.-supplied food and drinks, available to military in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport since Tuesday. They also were given cash from another organization that helps soldiers, and have used meal vouchers from American." Good news, though: She says the best meal the recruits have eaten since being stuck in airline purgatory was at Chili's. --Robert Wilonsky
In the comments section of an earlier item today, our good (and beleaguered) Friend Tim Wagner -- ya know, The Voice of American Airlines -- offers further details regarding the airline's compensation package for those left stranded by the airline's copious cancellations this week. (As in: "For those who were stranded overnight, they're eligible for refunds, hotel and meal vouchers, and above and beyond all of that -- a $500 voucher for future travel.") Also, he notes, "You still don't want to be me today." No. Kidding.
Also wouldn't wanna be Nicholas Sabatini, the Federal Aviation Administration's associate administrator for safety, who today was among those being barbecued during the Senate's Aviation Safety Oversight Hearing. Reports The New York Times, it wasn't friendly: "A Senate subcommittee chairman compared [the FAA's] handling of its lapses to the Pentagon’s handling of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib." Also noted, for those looking for further reasons not to ever again get on an airplane, there's news of an incident at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport over the weekend:
Whilst cruising the Flickr this a.m., I came across this photo of a billboard touting a Web site where dissatisfied American Airlines customers can "Tell Your AA Story." Fitting, of course, to see this today, as the Fort Worth-based carrier canceled approximately 1,000-plus flights today, following some 460 cancellations yesterday as it gives its fleet of MD-80s the once-over twice. (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has, of course, been hardest hit, with 208336 cancellations; Chicago O'Hare came in second with 158.) Says Friend of Unfair Park Tim Wagner, whose job sucks more than yours today, "There are about 30 MD-80s in service as of 7 a.m., and we should complete more throughout the day." But all that's subject to change. And it will, once you add to the inspection schedule today's stormy forecast.
But if I may: Skip ahead to 6:56:00 in the video, when The Face of Southwest, executive chairman Herb Kelleher, begins to talk, and his microphone's off. Apparently, he thought the whole thing was just another Southwest Airlines commercial. Have another smoke, Herb. 'Cause this shit's hi-larious. --Robert Wilonsky
On Sunday, some folks flying into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from Europe will be doused with, ah, “Showers of Affection” courtesy the airport's fire department. Well, technically, only the plane's will get doused as they taxi to the gate; passengers are free to get wet however they see fit after landing. Still, that’s just the beginning of “Super Sunday,” celebrating the industry’s new “Open Skies” agreement.
DFW's Web site is currently rocking a “Countdown Clock” that's ticking down the moments until March 30, which will see the largest single-day expansion of international air service since the airport opened in 1974. And travelers who love Europe will reap the benefits.
ABC's Nightline was all set to do a puff piece on Southwest Airlines -- "the all-too-rare story of a U.S. airline that has been so successful, so profitable, so relentlessly cheery that practically no one who works at the airline ever quits." Only, that was before word broke that Southwest and the Federal Aviation Administration conspired to falsify safety records for nearly four dozen Boeing 737s that weren't, ya know, safe. For those who missed the Nightline piece, which runs a good 10 minutes, it's available here. Courtesy, really, Southwest's blog. --Robert Wilonsky
Only, a question: Upon returning to DFW yesterday, I heard two out-of-towners waiting for rides (apparently, there is some mammoth pharmaceutical company conference at the Hilton Anatole all this week, and it's populated by supermodels, good God) and one airport meet-and-greeter ask the same thing. Which was: Why, oh, why, doesn't DFW have a single newsstand or restaurant outside of the secured gate area? You can't even buy a magazine without buying a plane ticket. Said the airport greeter, folks are always complaining about that -- so, surely, a few of the 200,000 who turned in ACI questionnaires wondered the same thing. I know, I know -- don't call you Shirley. --Robert Wilonsky
