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United grounds 52 planes to complete missed tests
Boeing 777s pulled from service could cause delays, cancellations
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 8:52 a.m. EDT April 2, 2008
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- United Airlines grounded 52 Boeing 777s on Wednesday after it discovered a test of a fire-suppression system on the planes was overdue, potentially leading to delays and cancellations for passengers.
The decision to pull the planes from service follows a string of maintenance rechecks among carriers that have led to groundings at American and Delta airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration has been auditing airline maintenance records following the discovery of fuselage cracks in four Southwest Airlines (LUV 12.75, +0.35, +2.8%) planes in mid-March. See related story.
The FAA said it intends to release the findings of recent safety checks sometime Wednesday, and added that despite the number of groundings, U.S. carriers overall have had "very high compliance rates."
United, a unit of UAL Corp. (<IMG class=pixelTracking height=1 width=1 border=0>UAUA 23.13, +1.60, +7.4%) , said that a review of maintenance records showed a test of the fire-suppression systems' five bottles that hold a flame retardant had not been performed as scheduled. Though the system itself is tested regularly in pre-flight checks, the bottles are generally tested every 572 days, said spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.
McCarthy said United voluntarily disclosed the information to the FAA and is grounding aircraft until the tests are completed, though it wasn't immediately known how long that would take.
The Boeing 777 is a wide-body aircraft used primarily for long-haul flights on international routes, as well as some domestic routes.
Shares of UAL closed Tuesday at $23.13, up 7.4% in a broader market rally. American parent AMR Corp.
<IMG class=pixelTracking height=1 width=1 border=0>AMR 9.85, +0.83, +9.2%) closed at $9.85, up 9.2%, while Southwest shares rose 2.8% to $12.75.
United grounds 52 planes to complete missed tests
Boeing 777s pulled from service could cause delays, cancellations
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 8:52 a.m. EDT April 2, 2008
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- United Airlines grounded 52 Boeing 777s on Wednesday after it discovered a test of a fire-suppression system on the planes was overdue, potentially leading to delays and cancellations for passengers.
The decision to pull the planes from service follows a string of maintenance rechecks among carriers that have led to groundings at American and Delta airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration has been auditing airline maintenance records following the discovery of fuselage cracks in four Southwest Airlines (LUV 12.75, +0.35, +2.8%) planes in mid-March. See related story.
The FAA said it intends to release the findings of recent safety checks sometime Wednesday, and added that despite the number of groundings, U.S. carriers overall have had "very high compliance rates."
United, a unit of UAL Corp. (<IMG class=pixelTracking height=1 width=1 border=0>UAUA 23.13, +1.60, +7.4%) , said that a review of maintenance records showed a test of the fire-suppression systems' five bottles that hold a flame retardant had not been performed as scheduled. Though the system itself is tested regularly in pre-flight checks, the bottles are generally tested every 572 days, said spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.
McCarthy said United voluntarily disclosed the information to the FAA and is grounding aircraft until the tests are completed, though it wasn't immediately known how long that would take.
The Boeing 777 is a wide-body aircraft used primarily for long-haul flights on international routes, as well as some domestic routes.
Shares of UAL closed Tuesday at $23.13, up 7.4% in a broader market rally. American parent AMR Corp.
<IMG class=pixelTracking height=1 width=1 border=0>AMR 9.85, +0.83, +9.2%) closed at $9.85, up 9.2%, while Southwest shares rose 2.8% to $12.75.
