Trump grounds Max8/9
Mar 13, 2019, 5:06 pm
#46
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Mar 13, 2019, 5:10 pm
#47
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Yes the FAA is independent. Basically, as I see it, it comes down to this: The FAA made the call and he's taking the credit (As he's prone to do).
Mar 13, 2019, 5:10 pm
#48
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Only if you actually appoint someone to the position. The current director has been acting for over a year.
Mar 13, 2019, 5:16 pm
#49
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At least for WN, if they decide they need to short term bring in some lift, they only need to find 737s with sufficient Y seating. Not having seat reservations or an F cabin means they could wet or dry lease lift relatively easily (assuming pax don't mind random non Southwest liveries and cabins)
Mar 13, 2019, 5:34 pm
#50
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Trump hasn't nominated anyone to head the FAA (one of long list of "open" positions), so for the last 14 months the agency has been run by it's acting administrator Daniel Elwell. The FAA’s top three positions are all held by officials who "shifted up" to cover their bosses's position in an acting capacity (including deputy administrator Carl Burleson & chief of staff Tina Amereihn).
There were reports that Trump wanted his eminently unqualified longtime personal pilot to lead the FAA (an $18 billion, 45,000 person federal regulatory agency), but apparently he was talked out of that.
Also of note is that Elwell's boss is Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is Mitch McConnell's wife.
All of Trump’s proposed budgets cut hundreds of millions from the FAA's annual budget. For two years Trump pushed a plan to privatize air traffic control which would have eliminated about 60% of employees. That idea seems dead now.
Airline enforcement fines have dropped 88% in two years and lengthy tarmac delays have doubled.
The generally close relationship between the President and the FAA (and major industry players, like airlines and Boeing) is seemingly more cozy these days.
Mar 13, 2019, 6:12 pm
#52
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 438
Yes planes can be ferried empty. Luckily a good number of them were at or in route to MX bases. There's only a few at out stations (BUR, MSP, CHS, AUS, EWR off the top of my head). Luckily a bunch were at MDW, PHX, DAL, HOU, BNA, etc.
And WN is NOT bringing back the -300. There is zero chance of this. I will literally eat a crow if that happens.
And WN is NOT bringing back the -300. There is zero chance of this. I will literally eat a crow if that happens.
Mar 13, 2019, 6:36 pm
#53
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,028
Yes planes can be ferried empty. Luckily a good number of them were at or in route to MX bases. There's only a few at out stations (BUR, MSP, CHS, AUS, EWR off the top of my head). Luckily a bunch were at MDW, PHX, DAL, HOU, BNA, etc.
And WN is NOT bringing back the -300. There is zero chance of this. I will literally eat a crow if that happens.
And WN is NOT bringing back the -300. There is zero chance of this. I will literally eat a crow if that happens.
Mar 13, 2019, 7:46 pm
#54
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 206
I read where Boeing was working on a software and hardware fix after the MAX8 Indonesia crash but it was delayed due to government shutdown.
Last edited by ftnoob; Mar 13, 2019 at 10:57 pm Reason: this isn't OMNI-PR
Mar 13, 2019, 8:03 pm
#56
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 438
That's like using the words "never" and "always", and since this multi-aircraft grounding for an extended period of time, SWA is in new territory. If the software update for the Max fleet gets delayed until May, or June, or later, then SWA is into the peak summer travel season absent 34 airframes. Anything is possible, especially if, the Lord forbid, another max goes down once they start flying again.
Mar 13, 2019, 8:10 pm
#57
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 206
Not real certain about MAX8/9 groundings. Flight Aware shows 44 in the air as of 9pm CDT. One just left Hobby for BWI so I doubt that was for "relocation". Apparently the order was not intended for immediate grounding. Perhaps after todays schedules? Also WestJet has one enroute to Canada. So much for the "ban".
Mar 13, 2019, 8:15 pm
#58
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(And in fact I WAS on a WN 738MAX flight last night and that is exactly how I felt once we made it past the initial climb.)
RIP to the passengers & crew, and loving thoughts to their family, on the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights. Air travel is amazingly safe these days but we should never lose sight of the concept of Safety First - and may it never become just a slogan.
Mar 13, 2019, 8:23 pm
#59
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Not real certain about MAX8/9 groundings. Flight Aware shows 44 in the air as of 9pm CDT. One just left Hobby for BWI so I doubt that was for "relocation". Apparently the order was not intended for immediate grounding. Perhaps after todays schedules? Also WestJet has one enroute to Canada. So much for the "ban".
Mar 13, 2019, 8:36 pm
#60
Join Date: May 2002
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I'm curious to see if any 737-800 lines get cancelled to put those planes on Max 8 routes instead. May as well cancel the lines with lower revenue and the higher flexibility of rerouting passengers. I'd think that shuttle routes like DAL-HOU might temporarily lose a frequency or two.
