MUCH A DO ABOUT VERY LITTLE......this is what occures when

bureaucrats,  politicians and the Press get something started....

no real safty issue involved ....

I've been flying American for almost 20 years (more than half my life), have flown literally hundreds of flights with them, and can honestly say 99% of my flights have been good experiences. Twice I've been bumped from my flight and had to spend another night in the city I was at instead of flying home. Big $%#$ deal. I got over it, and 2 bad experiences don't detract from hundreds of great ones. Oh, and I love the guy who says "people hate S80s. They should buy all 737's." HA! Sure, probably the same guy that want's a steak with his 80.00 flight. Let's see... the 2007 average cost of a 737: 60,000,000.00. Multiplied by the 300 or so MD80's and S80's in AA's inventory, and that's about 18 billion dollars. They should run out and do it tomorrow! This is advice given by somebody whose home is probably in foreclosure. I'm not the king of England, and I don't mind S80's. The expectations of people in this country have gotten absurd! Cut 'em (AA) some slack. And all the people who say you won't fly them again, good! Means I don't have to sit next to you on my next flight.

The Media is spinning this to make the airlines look bad.  AA fixed it like they thought they were supposed to.  The FAA is now pulling this crap to make it look like they're doing something.  So the FAA makes a stink about a couple of wire tires.  Blame the FAA, not the Airlines.  EVERYONE with MD-80's is getting hit with this - there is no way that would be the case if it were incompetence on the part of the airline.  All this is happening now because AA (& Delta) doesn't want to deal with a massive fine like Southwest got.  Keep in mind AA hasn't been fined - Southwest was fined MILLIONS for not checking for cracks in planes that are just as old or older - it wasnt that they didnt do it the way they wanted it - Southwest DIDNT DO IT.  That was a safety issue - this is bureacracy gone nuts.  The next time I hear someone say 'thats why I hate American', I love Southwest, blah blah blah - put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I agree with cg's  comment that this matter with the MD-80 wire bundle is, indeed, a "tempest in a teacup". This has absolutely nothing to do with safety, it is more about a bureaucratic knee-jerk reaction by the feds after  they got  spanked . As a 24-year aircraft maintenance technician for American  that has spent MANY hours in an MD-80 wheel well, the wire bundle in question is absolutely secure and cannot come in contact with any moving parts. were all the string ties exactly 1" apart? No, some were 1.25" apart and some as far as (gasp) 1.5 inches apart. If the FAA was as exacting and precise with all airlines as with American, no airplane would ever fly again! Where were all the Feds when Northwest Airlines fired all their mechanics??  

The airlines are just like the Federal Government , dysfunctional and don't give a damn about the general public.

What do you mean, why is this plane still flying.

It should have never flown.

The Cerritos Air disater where the jet fliped upsaide down and

crashed into the neiborhood killing 300 plus people in 1986

and then....  The alaska Airline doomed flight in 2000 that

lost the rudder and spiraled into the Ocean near Anacapa Island

killing everyone !!.

is that not enough???

Please be impartial when you evaluate this issue.

The FACTS:  /check them/  

1. The issue was indentified by AA.  

2. The issue was electrical wiring bundles in the FWD section of the FO side main gear wheel well which was chaffing.  AA mechanics were concerned that exposed wiring may "arc" and cause a spark.  

3. AA ME issued a fix /service bulletin/ that AA implemented then shared the info with the FAA to share with other carriers that operate the MD80.  

4. The FAA took the info and issued a AD/airworthiness directive based on AA discovery and Boeing advice and allowed all MD80 operators 18months to correct.  

5. REMEMBER the issue was with chaffing of the insulation.  The danger of electrical arcing causing a spark.

6. AA mistake was when they inspected they were inspecting for chaffing.  They had already reinsulated the wires and secured them.  The wires run thru hydraulic lines and other internal aircraft systems.

7.  The mistake was not if there were wires exposed but that clips, ties and other AD requirements were not specifically followed to the letter.

8.  The internal wheel wheel of AA S80 differ.  Some by manufacture date and some belonged to acquired airline TWA.  They vary and may have led to different solutions to the same problem.  

9.  Inspectors were passing and placing aircraft back in service and a downline inspector not knowing it passed was placing it back out of service based on what he thought the AD should mean.

Ask yourself, if this really was a safety issue, why did the FAA allow all MD80 operators to operate the aircraft for 18months.  AA reported the problem, fixed it and is being penalized for not fixing it to the letter.  You are not flying because of the FAA at DFW is the same region that was scrutinized by the WN/Southwest/ action.

It is truely a shame that the flying public and a financially struggling airline has to pay for goverment bureaucrats attempting to save face and their postions.

Before you pass judgement on a complex issue.  Please understand the facts.

There's basically nothing at all wrong with these aircraft. Have you ever seen a World War I airplane in the air? It's just a matter of regular maintanance, love and care. In this case, do you think people would stop flying these planes if they started dropping out of the sky? No, the capitalistic market will work as usual and people will choose other airplanes. Blame the FAA for being soft and then, under political pressue, decided to do their job.

What no one is talking about is that for the last 5 years there has been a loss in funding to the FAA by Congress. The FAA inspectors are required to work overtime, travel to the diffrent operators that they must inspect, and Have been given a bigger work load every time someone leaves the office without being paid for it. So They don't have time or the incentive to really look to see if everythnig is being doen. Thet just go by what the opperator tell them. The general aviation area is even worse. I would hate to really know haw many of the small aircraft and business jets are out of inspection and how many pilots are out of their medicals. For the Denver FISDO They had only 2 GA inspectors to cover all of the operatiions along the front range, and the ones for the air carrirers really didn't know what they were doing.

I am an A&P mechanic with 31 years expierence. 12 of those years as a lead mechanic at southwest. Let just say that the mechanic is the one who stands between saftey and revenue dicisions. All these airline keep aircraft recrod history which schedules up comming inspections and A.D. s. Reallt the entire system is corroupt. I feel that what we have here is criminal negligence on the part of the airlines and the faa. There is a solution. all modren aircarft have computers with crt screens. Theres could easily be tied in the a maintenance computer through rf. A pilot could then check that all ad,s and inspections had been complied with. Just a dream. dont like the system change it. no pilot will fly an airliner he thinks is not safe. it his ass up there.