Report Says Agency Changed Rules At 11th Hour

The recent grounding of more than 3,300 American Airlines flights, impacting travel for more than 300,000 passengers, could have been avoided if the FAA hadn't reversed a tentative agreement between the airline and local FAA officials, alleges a report issued Friday to the US Department of Transportation by the carrier.

The report, delivered to US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, is reported to have language stating that American Airlines believed it had a handshake agreement with FAA managers in the region that outlined a scheduled plan for Airworthiness Directive (AD) compliance on its fleet of MD80 aircraft without disrupting passengers and allowing the fleet to remain operational.

The report accuses FAA headquarters of overruling regional managers and moving forward with a more aggressive plan that blindsided the airline overnight, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As reported in April by ANN, American accused the FAA of changing long-standing rules on how airworthiness directives are administered. Specifically, American's MD-80 lead engineer, Greg A. Magnuson, says the company has traditionally had the leeway to decide on its own how to resolve ambiguities or conflicts within ADs, but that's suddenly not being permitted.

Sources familiar with the report state American stressed the company believed it was in full compliance with a 2006 airworthiness directive from the FAA. American further stated it worked directly with Boeing Co. as early as 2004 to develop safety bulletins for voluntary MD-80 wiring fixes that would used throughout the industry.

Relying on those guidelines, the airline was on track to finish inspections and modifications by late 2006 -- 16 months before the federal compliance deadline. The FAA later changed some technical criteria within the directive, and ultimately determined that the airline was not in compliance with the new requirements.

The MD-80 fleet grounding came on the heels of an earlier FAA decision against Southwest Airlines, levying a record $10.2 million civil fine against Southwest for the carrier's failure to conduct mandatory fuselage fatigue and rudder inspections on 46 of its older 737-300 models.

Both measures point to new steps taken by the DOT to examine FAA standards in respect to air carriers to improve the safety inspection program. Secretary Peters recently reinforced that the improvement should not, however, come at a cost to passenger convenience.

"The mark of an effective safety system is the ability to constantly improve and adapt," said Peters in a report by ANN last month. "These steps will help make inspectors and managers more accountable, keep airlines focused on safety and minimize disruptions for travelers."

FMI: www.aa.com, www.dot.gov, www.faa.gov