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Regional airline ASA grounds 60 jets
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines has grounded 60 jets — or 40 percent of its fleet — for engine safety inspections.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many Wednesday flights will be canceled, but a spokeswoman said some planes could be grounded until late Thursday or Friday.
ASA is one of Atlanta-based Delta’s biggest contract carriers and has 396 daily departures from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Delta books passengers on the flights and numbers the flights as its own.
ASA spokeswoman Kate Modolo said an internal audit revealed concerns about whether the planes’ engines had been inspected according to the engine manufacturer’s recommendations.
The company self-reported the problem to the Federal Aviation Administration and voluntarily grounded the planes late Tuesday “as a precautionary measure” so they could be re-inspected, Modolo said.
“We’re working to complete engine re-inspections on all of those aircraft within the next 36 to 42 hours,” Modolo said just before daybreak Wednesday.
“Safety is our number one priority, and we apologize for the inconvenience this has been causing the passengers,” Modolo said. She said customers are being contacted by the Delta reservations office “and are being re-accommodated on next available flights.”
The Federal Aviation Administration sometimes orders inspections of commercial aircraft when maintenance issues arise, but mass groundings are unusual. Modolo said she did not recall such a grounding in the past at ASA.
Only 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jets were affected. ASA has a total of 150 planes, according to its Web site. They include 110 50-seat CRJ200s, 38 70-seat CRJ700s and two 90-seat CRJ900s.
ASA is based in Atlanta but is now owned by Utah-based SkyWest Inc.
The carrier started as an independent airline in 1979 and became a Delta contract partner in 1984. Delta bought full control of ASA in 1999 but sold it to SkyWest six years later during a financial crisis.
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines has grounded 60 jets — or 40 percent of its fleet — for engine safety inspections.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many Wednesday flights will be canceled, but a spokeswoman said some planes could be grounded until late Thursday or Friday.
ASA is one of Atlanta-based Delta’s biggest contract carriers and has 396 daily departures from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Delta books passengers on the flights and numbers the flights as its own.
ASA spokeswoman Kate Modolo said an internal audit revealed concerns about whether the planes’ engines had been inspected according to the engine manufacturer’s recommendations.
The company self-reported the problem to the Federal Aviation Administration and voluntarily grounded the planes late Tuesday “as a precautionary measure” so they could be re-inspected, Modolo said.
“We’re working to complete engine re-inspections on all of those aircraft within the next 36 to 42 hours,” Modolo said just before daybreak Wednesday.
“Safety is our number one priority, and we apologize for the inconvenience this has been causing the passengers,” Modolo said. She said customers are being contacted by the Delta reservations office “and are being re-accommodated on next available flights.”
The Federal Aviation Administration sometimes orders inspections of commercial aircraft when maintenance issues arise, but mass groundings are unusual. Modolo said she did not recall such a grounding in the past at ASA.
Only 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jets were affected. ASA has a total of 150 planes, according to its Web site. They include 110 50-seat CRJ200s, 38 70-seat CRJ700s and two 90-seat CRJ900s.
ASA is based in Atlanta but is now owned by Utah-based SkyWest Inc.
The carrier started as an independent airline in 1979 and became a Delta contract partner in 1984. Delta bought full control of ASA in 1999 but sold it to SkyWest six years later during a financial crisis.