Report: Violations Increase at Least 80 Percent 7:05 a.m. ET (1205 GMT) March 13, 2000 ARLINGTON, Va.  Fines on U.S. airlines for safety violations totaled more than $9.4 million last year, an increase of at least 80 percent from the year before, according to a published report.

Security violations account for about half the amount fined last year, and maintenance violations account for 38 percent, USA Today reported Monday. The total amount of fines from last year could grow because the Federal Aviation Administration withholds information about security cases that were opened within the past year.

Studying FAA records of enforcement cases for 23 jet airlines since 1985, the newspaper found that maintenance and security violations accounted for almost three-quarters of the dollar amount of all fines against the airlines from 1985 to 1998.

The FAA fined or took administrative action against airlines an average eight times each work day in 1998 for safety violations, the newspaper said.

America West was fined the highest amount last year, nearly $2.8 million, most of it for operating flights without performing required inspections, the report said. "Those matters are well behind us ...," said Stephen Johnson, a senior vice president at America West.

Delta Air Lines was fined the most times last year, 177 in all, and the second-highest amount, almost $2 million, the newspaper said. Delta spokesman John Kennedy said the airline flies more people than any other in the world, "so you'd expect that the number of fines would reflect that we're the busiest airline."

Continental was fined the least amount in 1999, $111,250, the newspaper said.

http://www.foxnews.com/national/031300/airsafety.sml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 13, 2000

Answers

Here's another slant. FAA records show that tens of thousands of flights were unsafe since the 1980's. USA Today conducted the study over a 14-year period to the end of '99.

Makes you wonder how much more we're at risk since the 1/1/00 rollover date! I guess we'll have our answer in 2001. (shudders!).....

Top World News

Mon, 13 Mar 2000, 12:05pm EST

FAA Says Thousands of Flights Since Mid-1980s Were Unsafe, Paper Reports

By Christopher Paris

Washington, March. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Tens of thousands of airline flights since the mid-1980s should never have left the ground because of safety violations, according to Federal Aviation Administration records, USA Today reported. According to the USA Today's analysis of 23 U.S. airlines over 14 years, the FAA frequently -- about eight times a day -- cited the companies for mistakes in maintenance, security and flight operations. The number of fines went up to 664 in 1998 from 283 in 1996 for errors such as late paperwork, failing to screen passengers' bags for explosives and carrying banned hazardous substances, USA Today said.

U.S. airlines' domestic passenger count will rise about 3.6 percent annually over the next dozen years while their international traffic gains will be about 5.5 percent, provided the economy remains strong, the Federal Aviation Administration predicted.

(USA Today B1 3/13)

Source: Bloomberg News

http://quote.bloomberg .com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World% 20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_topworld&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2 =blk&bt=blk&s=932d001163f0523a0d520da2b62790c6

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 13, 2000.

Thank you for the additional links Lee!

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 13, 2000.