Airtran safety record?

[trainerjet]

What a ridiculous story, and an even more ridiculous post that started this thread. Like the other have said, every airline has incidents, (including Southwest....remember BUR). In this case, the AirTran crew did a first-rate, professional job and should be commended.

I wonder about your true motive in posting??

 

[TurboS7]

You want to see what unsafe is like go to Siberia. Fly on those airlines a few legs then come back here. Amazing though with all the insanity that you see there not many airplanes crash and hurt people. Airtran is more than safe, they are fantastic, the new 717's are great airplanes. Enjoy your trip. The real challenge will be dealing with the TSA.

 

[Citrusflyer]

A couple of things made me wonder about this whole thread. I went to the website that the orig. poster referred to, and found more than a few oddities.

First Airtran was the only airline treated as a "dual airline", meaning it was listed as "Airtran/Vaulejet". I didn't see any reference to "Delta/Western" or "Southwest/Morris Air", or any number of other possibilities. I'm sure if you combined the safety records of an airline along with everyone it purchsed or merged with along the way things would look a little different.

Second although "Airtran/Valuejet" only had one crash coupled with a loss of life it got an "F" for safety. (And there was no mention that it was the only crash in history in which a maintenance subcontractor was found guilty of murder in relation to that crash). Not to pick on the big guys, but American and United both listed 9 similar crashes but received "A's" for safety. Keeping in mind that they had some sort of formula of flights vs crashes (and I know the big guys fly a lot more than we do) one would still think coming up with an "A" for nine crashes (or even and "F" for one) would not pass the WTF test.

In the interest of keeping it short I had one other observation. Why would a person who already "booked" tickets for himself and his family find a realtively obscure pilot message board to post his sudden concerns for safety? (Not that I don't enjoy this board tremendously, as do most of you, but lets face it' outside a bunch of pilots who reads this board enough to think to post a question like that?). Memphis guy registered and posted on the same day. If you are truly concerned about safety, don't be, I assure you we operate as safely as anyone else out there. If you have other motives why don't you just post them and be done with it.

Just to clarify, I do work for Airtran, but I never worked for the old Airtran or for Valuejet. It's just my two cents worth.

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

Amen, brother!

just a correction to sabreliner's post...Citrus call sign started after merger. Air Tran's old callsign was Menity.

 

[Jetsnake]

Maybe I overlooked it, but I found nothing in the linked article's comparison between Air Tran and Midwest Express about Midwest Express's accident (1984, I think). That accident killed everyone on board and was attributed to improper pilot action following an engine failure. The FAA POI was removed because of ineffective oversight of training.

In this Midwest Express accident, both pilots were typed
by the same POI. After further investigation, it was revealed
that the POI wasn't even typed in the DC-9. She, yes SHE,
lost her status as there POI and future 121 POI' s position.
But she never lost her job at the MKE(Milwaukee) FSDO.
She still works there conducting 135 and 91 check rides.
Where's the justice!

And by the way, the DC-9 that crashed in MKE that day had
dual engine failures. The first engine failure was the right one.
This due in part to a compressor assembly fatigue, this happened
at 450'. The Left engine had a compressor stall after the aircraft
entered a stall in a unusual attitude.

The ultimate cause was:

Improper use of flight controls by PIC.
Emergency procedure. Improper
Stall, inadvertant by PIC.

No where, I mean NO WHERE.
Is there any mention of there POI...
Or that she is still working for the FAA...

Jetsnake

 

[sabreliner]

Amen, brother!

just a correction to sabreliner's post...Citrus call sign started after merger. Air Tran's old callsign was Menity.

Hmm...Didn't know that. What was "Menity" and the significance of it? I have no idea what it means.

I still like Critter...

 

[sanford&son]

"trade safety for budget"

i am not an airtran or airline insider, but i do recall that i took a transportation safety management course in college that was based around 3-4 case studies, one of which, the main focus of the course, was on value-jet. i wish that i had kept the text or my notes. the main focus was on how the management of value jet cut corners to save money. i don't mean that they stopped serving cokes or anything, the course infered that they took calculated risks that were a gamble on safety. the quote that i remember from the course was that VJ "traded safety for budget." i remember coming out of that course thinking that lewis jordan and crew were a bunch of criminals. i don't know if VJ deserved the rap it got in this course or the text book we used, but with the publicity of the merger/ name change, and the timing and circumstances therein, i suppose i can see how some (a very few) people may still feel a lagging aprehension about AT. on that note, i have flown AT many times and will gladly say that they provide excellent service at a reasonable price. i have no worries about their safety. AT is good enough for me. if they make your vagina hurt, than just stay home.
-lamont

 

[Dieterly]

Try "Manatee" instead. Big fat sea animal found in In FL.

 

[FastCargo]

Things that make you say hmmm...

I am also curious as to the motive of the initial poster...anyone remember CrownFlyer or DeltaCrownFlyer, or something like that who asked if flying was safe (this was after the AW pilots getting busted)? Makes you wonder if it isn't the same guy...different ID... Probably some reporter trolling for dirt...

FastCargo

 

[Jetsnake]

Re: "trade safety for budget"

i am not an airtran or airline insider, but i do recall that i took a transportation safety management course in college that was based around 3-4 case studies, one of which, the main focus of the course, was on value-jet. i wish that i had kept the text or my notes.
-lamont

Suggestion; Throw away your notes.
Really, Keep your notes. Know your facts in any case before
you know the conclusion.
Never base any fact until you have the evidence to back it.
You sound like A ERAU Grad that just completed a Crash
Investigation course. Don't be a Riddle Head.
NO THE FACT'S. Until you do. You really have no comment...
Regardless of your schooling...

And I can comment on this one, I was involved in crash investigation for over 5 year's.

 

[DJSewell]

The article in question is totally garbage. This was researched and written over two years ago. The last paragraph said AirTran still hasn't completed conversion of fleet with cargo fire detection and supression system. AirTran developed, tested and was the first airline to have entire fleet converted with the new detection and suppresion system. Also no mention is article of 717. Fleet of AirTran now consists of 47 717s and 19 DC9s. By end of next year fleet will be 73 717s and no DC9s--newest jet fleet of any major airline in the world!

 

[charterpuke]

Re: Re: Airtran safety record?

Memphis, name one major airline (excl SWA) that has NOT had a fatal crash. As the answer is NONE, is one to assume they’re all unsafe?



The answer is... America West. They have never had a fatal accident. In fact they have the best safety record of any of the major airlines (even better than SWA).

 

[crosscut]

Re: Re: Re: Airtran safety record?

Memphis, name one major airline (excl SWA) that has NOT had a fatal crash. As the answer is NONE, is one to assume they’re all unsafe?



The answer is... America West. They have never had a fatal accident. In fact they have the best safety record of any of the major airlines (even better than SWA).

Thanks - I stand corrected; apologies to you, cactus guys & gals. However, this is a moot point because this Memphis guy had clearly other reasons for posting the article.

 

[sanford&son]

Re: Re: "trade safety for budget"

Suggestion; Throw away your notes.
Really, Keep your notes. Know your facts in any case before
you know the conclusion.
Never base any fact until you have the evidence to back it.
You sound like A ERAU Grad that just completed a Crash
Investigation course. Don't be a Riddle Head.
NO THE FACT'S. Until you do. You really have no comment...
Regardless of your schooling...

And I can comment on this one, I was involved in crash investigation for over 5 year's.

i was just trying to point out what a negative pov many had/ perpetuated on VJ @ the time, and give the knuckle head that started the post the benefit of the doubt. i am not trying to draw any conclusions, merely convey the impressions left upon me by a course i once took. i f*cking stated in my post that i didn't know if VJ deserved that rap or not! and no, this one wasn't @ riddle. i'll comment on whatever i god**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** feel like, when i feel like it, snake. if you want to get detailed about crash investigation, please do. i don't know jacksh*t about that. don't pretend to. but please, mr. snake, do not presume to be more qualified than anyone else to postulate on something as subjective as public opinion.
-"riddle head"

 

[chperplt]

You sound like A ERAU Grad that just completed a Crash

Jetsnake

Granted, some ERAU grads like to spout off at the mouth, but let's not sterotype all of us in that group.

I happen to have a Masters degree in aviation safety and accident investigation. Maybe I do know a little something about that or other accidents. Maybe I do have the "facts" of the case and am able to come to my own conclusions.

You may not like the school, or the people that come from the school, but making a comment like

Don't be a Riddle Head.

makes you sound like a complete a@@hole.