British Airways’ online sale of thousands of surplus stock not needed for its aircraft caused a stampede of buying from aviation enthusiasts and bargain-hunters.
In the first 24 hours, 5,000 purchases were made, with the website getting 250,000 page views. In the first four days, 1,900 six-packs of bread baskets were snapped up.
Meal trolleys were among the first to sell out. Items from the now-retired Boeing 747s in BA’s aircraft fleet were in big demand.
Trouble is, the sell-off seems to have been so popular it risks becoming a PR headache.
An Allegiant Air MD-83 passenger jet takes off from the Monterey airport
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to improve its oversight to address maintenance issues at Allegiant Air, the 11th largest U.S. carrier, according to a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Inspector General, in a 31-page report sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday but not yet made public, said FAA inspectors since 2011 have not “consistently documented risks associated with 36 Allegiant Air in-flight engine shutdowns for its MD-80 fleet or correctly assessed the root cause of maintenance issues.”
Ultra-low cost Allegiant, a unit of Allegiant Travel Co, said it had not yet see the report and did not have an immediate comment.
The FAA said in a letter attached to the report that it agreed with eight of the nine recommendations made by the inspector general and partially agreed with the remaining one.
Allegiant carried about 14 million passengers last year, serving 122 U.S. cities and Puerto Rico on 450 flight routes.
The inspector general opened the probe in May 2018 after a “series of in-flight engine shutdowns, aborted takeoffs, and unscheduled landings” raised concerns about maintenance practices.
The report said in-flight shutdowns at Allegiant “continued until July 2018 and were only resolved four months later when Allegiant Air retired the last of its MD-80 fleet.” Allegiant now flies an all Airbus fleet.
The report found in-flight engine shutdowns forced 21 Allegiant aircraft to return or divert to other airports between 2014 and 2018, but that regulators did not properly track engine shutdown risks.
A 2015 maintenance provider failure at Allegiant Air demonstrated “severe violations that represent unacceptable safety risks or could result in catastrophic outcomes should also warrant a more stringent oversight approach,” the report said.
The inspector general said the airline’s maintenance provider failed to insert a cotter pin on a critical flight control component that put some 30,000 passengers at risk.
The report said in August 2015, a pilot “almost lost control of this aircraft during takeoff when it unexpectedly tried to lift off prematurely” but was able to abort takeoff and land safely.
After inspectors proposed a 30-day suspension for Allegiant Air’s maintenance provider, FAA regional officials reduced the suspension to a compliance action. FAA inspectors closed out six of eight compliance actions before ensuring Allegiant Air actually took any corrective actions, the report found.
It also found that FAA does not provide inspectors with guidance and comprehensive training to ensure Allegiant Air takes appropriate corrective actions.
The FAA said it had “initiated compliance actions at Allegiant Air that have improved safety for the flying public.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang and Bill Berkrot)
Airline passengers walk next to an Allegiant Air commercial flight near an air traffic control tower operated by Serco nc. at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport in Ogden
SEATTLE, Nov. 8, 2019 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] last week delivered the first of nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF). The United Kingdom is acquiring the multi-mission aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales process with the U.S. Navy. The P-8A Poseidon replaces the U.K.’s retired Nimrod aircraft.
Speaking to attendees at the delivery ceremony, Air Marshal Andrew Turner, deputy commander for Capability for the Royal Air Force, spoke of the “profound challenge” of enemy submarines threatening the U.K. and other nations. “P-8 is the key to solving this challenge on the surface, the sub-surface and in the waters of the North Atlantic. There is no place [for our enemies] to hide. We will make the oceans transparent and we will prevail.”
Boeing formally delivered the aircraft on Oct. 29 to the U.S. Navy during a ceremony at the Boeing Military Delivery Center in Tukwila, Wash. From Tukwila, the aircraft flew to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, where U.S. Navy leaders officially turn the aircraft over to the United Kingdom. At JAX, Royal Air Force crew will work with the aircraft before flying it to the United Kingdom in January 2020. All nine P-8A aircraft will be based at Lossiemouth, Scotland.
As part of a collaborative program with the U.S. Navy, pilots and maintainers from the United Kingdom’s RAF have been stationed at Naval Air Station JAX since 2012. Called “Project Seedcorn,” the arrangement has allowed RAF members to fly the P-8A with Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Fleet Replacement Squadron, to maintain their maritime patrol skills in advance of receiving the P-8A.
The P-8 is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. In addition, the P-8 performs humanitarian and search and rescue missions around the globe.
