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FAA gives nod to AirTran
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February 27, 1998: 6:22 p.m. ET
Inspector's report finds no substantial safety problems at the former Valujet
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Saying it had found "no significant issues" that would directly affect safety, the Federal Aviation Administration gave a clean bill of health on Friday to AirTran Airways, the Orlando-based carrier that lent its logo and imprimatur to ValuJet when it merged with the troubled airline last July.
The FAA issued its findings in a final report by the National Airline Safety Inspection Program, which conducted an inspection of AirTran's 33-plane fleet last Fall, just a few months after the merger.
Among other findings, the report said the inspectors had found no evidence of unsafe conditions or systemic failures at AirTran.
"In addition," it added, "there was no indication of improperly trained or unqualified flight crew members nor aircraft operating in an unsafe condition."
The findings cheered Airtran executives, who had struggled in recent months to deflect criticism that ValuJet may not have adequately overhauled its operations in the wake of a fiery May 1996 crash over the Florida Everglades.
In that crash, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 plunged into an alligator-infested swamp shortly after takeoff, killing all 110 passengers and crew aboard. The FAA responded by temporarily grounding ValuJet's fleet.
The no-frills airline, buffeted by a record number of passenger defections, has struggled to regain altitude ever since.
"The final report simply confirms what we've been saying all along - that we operate a fine airline which is in compliance with Federal aviation regulations, said D. Joseph Corr, Airtran's president and chief executive officer.
"This was an exhaustive `white glove' inspection and we are delighted with the outcome," Corr added.
Analysts were equally enthused.
"This effectively is like an A-plus on your final exams in physics," said John Pincavage, an airline analyst at SBC Warburg Dillon Read.
However, Pincavage said AirTran was unlikely to benefit from a sharp rise in revenues as a result of the report's positive findings.
"If the company were still named ValuJet, then I would say it would have a much bigger impact potentially, because here the FAA would be saying `Hey, you guys did everything right, everything's fine.'," Pincavage said.
But since the merger, he added, "the stigma of the name had been erased."
Following the November merger travel agent bookings for the reabsorbed ValuJet rose by as much as 40 percent.
ValuJet had already resumed flying prior to the merger after an extensive federal review, and with a reduced fleet.
AirTran Airways' offers low-fare, short haul passenger air service to 45 cities primarily in the eastern U.S., including Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
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AirTran Airlines
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