THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605180333
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
ValuJet has appointed a ``safety czar'' and is reducing its daily flights by half so it can thoroughly inspect its aging fleet of 51 jets and deal with federal scrutiny after last weekend's crash.
``Anything less than a perfect safety record is unacceptable,'' ValuJet President Lewis Jordan said Friday as the discount carrier tried to appease frustrated customers with meal vouchers and free trips on a third day of running behind schedule and having to cancel flights at the last minute.
The company said it would keep all 51 of its planes in service and continue to fly to all 31 cities in its system, including Newport News. ValuJet said it didn't know when it would return to full service.
The Atlanta-based discount airline said its flights will be reduced from 320 at most to about 160 each day. Although the Federal Aviation Administration began daily inspections of all ValuJet planes Wednesday, the company said the flight reductions were voluntary and part of its own maintenance review.
The airline also announced that it had named retired Air Force Gen. James B. Davis, who now works for a Washington consulting firm, as its new safety czar.
Davis is assembling senior experts in maintenance, training and other fields to review the airline, ValuJet said.
Also Friday, the FAA revealed that last February two sets of government investigators independently recommended re-evaluations of ValuJet and that it was even suggested the airline be recertified.
ValuJet was placed under special FAA scrutiny Feb. 16 after a series of incidents in late 1995 and early this year. The investigation intensified after last Saturday's crash in Florida, killing 110 people.
FAA Associate Administrator Anthony J. Broderick reiterated that the airline is still considered safe to fly, meeting the FAA's standards.
More than 2,000 hours of work investigating the airline since February have resulted in some recommendations, but the agency has found ``no substantial systemic safety violations,'' he said.
Broderick said the special evaluation of the airline, launched Feb. 16, came after the FAA's Atlanta field office became concerned about the increasing number of problems being experienced by ValuJet. These included two cases of planes sliding off runways in bad weather, an engine fire and some less serious incidents.
Two days before the Atlanta office acted, regulators in Washington had concluded the airline might need a complete re-certification.
Re-certification means FAA investigators would go over all aspects of the airline's operations. Airlines keep operating while this is done, and Broderick said the investigation under way is, ``for all practical purposes'' a re-certification.
Meanwhile, ValuJet spokesman Gregg Kenyon said the airline would refund tickets on canceled flights or place customers on USAir if there is room.
Cancellations and delays at the Atlanta-based discount carrier began to pile up Wednesday, when the FAA began morning inspections of every ValuJet plane.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE FATALITIES VALUJET
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