Anyone else think American Airline's "Faulty Wiring" problems are a Cover for Financial problems?

[spooked]

FOUR airlines have gone BANKRUPT during this same time. I get the feeling this is just a cover for a FINANCIAL CRISIS at American Airlines.

The latest we're hearing is that American Airlines in losing "Tens of Millions" due to these cancelled flights...

It just seems very suspicious for AA to be having "faulty wiring" problems while other airlines are unable to keep afloat...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080411/airlines_outlook.html?.v=10

AP
Airlines Face New Cash Challenge
Friday April 11, 6:57 pm ET

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080411/american-airlines.htm

[ColbertWatcher]

1. If they weren't before, they are now! n/t

[lonestarnot]

16. LOL!

:toast:

[dkf]

2. Dammit that's where all my miles are.

I sure hope they don't go belly up.

[ThomWV]

4. All airlines go belly up.

I read something a couple of years ago that I have never seen again and I do not know if it is accurate or not but it sure sounded like it could be, here it is as best as I remember it; "if you added up the ballanc sheets from every airline that has existed from the first flight by the Wright brothers until today the sum would be a negative number".

[DFW]

3. It's more a result of Bush's laissez-faire regulatory policies

Republican philosophy has always been to "let business regulate itself."
The FAA took the message to heart, and has been lax in carrying out
inspections they should have been doing with greater frequence and intensity.
So, suddenly they discover wiring problems in an AA MD-80. Oops. AA has
HUNDREDS of MD-80s. American flies hundreds of times a day out of DFW airport
and that route is one of its most profitable. The last thing they would
do of their own accord is to ground those flights. This wasn't American's
idea. They would have probably loved to keep flying these things, hoping that
none of them crashed due to some malfunction. The FAA was shamed into action when
the faulty wiring became known. AA had no interest in paying out all that money
to stranded travelers. The one thing airlines hate is paying money back out to
passengers they have inconvenienced. This one can be laid at the feet of the
Bush FAA, and not American, not that THAT is of any comfort.

[screembloodymurder]

5. Very interesting.

The industry has had problems for years. Fuel costs are up, profits down and suddenly ...

[stopfascism]

6. It's not just the airlines

GE's first quarter profits were down so bad it tanked the market yesterday. The economy is shutting down as we type.

[SpiralHawk]

8. republicon economics at work

Thanks a pantload republicon so-called 'conservatives'

[sabbat hunter]

7. AA

flys/uses a high number of MD-80s or derivatives of that design. I believe I read that it is about 30% of their fleet.

[KharmaTrain]

9. It's A Cover For The Failures Of Deregulation

One airline shouldn't be able to knock out our entire air traffic system, but thanks to deregulation that's what's happened. AMR's zeal to eliminate competition led it to overspend on buying out competitors (like TWA) and to cut corners wherever possible to cover the huge debts of those aquisitions. The bottom line was to control as many gates at as many airports as possible...the FAA all but rolled over for AMR and United to dominate the small and medium markets and the most profitable and prestigious routes and slots at the largest airports. The debts have been rolling and building on these airlines and the FAA has turned a blind eye as its been politicized like all the other government agencies under this regime...and programmed to only serve the masters...safety and accountability be damned...there's money to be made.

Personally I'm glad to see American grounded and struggling. I've had a lot of problems with this airline over the past couple years and maybe this will shake 'em up. If they go under...good...let 'em. Let smaller entrepeneurs like a Jet Blue or even Southwest pick up the slack. Even if AMR gets 'em flyin', this incident will have far reaching affects as people, like me, will avoid flying American.

But I see this as a mere ripple in the airline industry's problems. Poor service, slipshod regulation and a major recession will keep people off planes in droves this year. But then I suspect the boooosh regime will open up the taxpayers billfold to bail 'em out again.

[BlueCollar]

14. Can I ask what industry you are in?

So I can make equivalent generalizations?

[babylonsister]

10. No. I don't know where to place the blame, on the FAA or the airline

employees that treated safety issues so disrespectfully. But here is an explanation. We rec'd this from an airline employee yesterday (my DH works at the same airline):


Subject: American Airlines MD80 wiring issue


This is a photo of the wiring bundle that has grounded so many AA flight the past several days. The FAA came out with a maintenance directive over a year ago that stated the wire ties must be one inch apart. The AA maintenance managers determined that the MD80's were close enough to 1 inch as shown in the photo and did not change the spacing of the wire ties.

Some MD80 did come from the factory with wire ties spaced 4-8 inches apart and that prompted the FAA directive that warned of possible chaffing and a potential fire hazard. The deadline to comply with this directive was last week.

The FAA says no way to the above spacing and grounded the entire MD80 fleet.

The FAA was really beat up in a congressional hearing last week by several FAA inspectors who told congress that they were forced by their supervisors to ignore discrepancies they found on Southwest Airlines B737's. The inspectors were from the same regional office that inspects American Airlines and so now the FAA is proving that NOTHING will get by their inspectors.

So, the FAA inspectors are grounding planes that have spacing of anything more than +/- .125!!!

[jody]

11. Deferred and poor quality maintenance is a symptom of financial problems. n/t

[sharesunited]

12. The free market killed the airlines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act

Ensured cut-throat competition, financial failure, and corner-cutting with safety.

[AP]

13. Makes sense. Because of all the stories about the FAA crackdowns in the wake of FAA laxity

they can promote the impression that it's the FAA making them do it.

[caledesi]

15. Uh, yes. NT