United flights grounded for missed tests
Passengers of United Airlines who intend to travel today on a United Boeing 777 aircraft will need to make other plans or accept the airline's fee waver to re-schedule.
United canceled 41 flights out of 84 using that aircraft on Wednesday so the planes could be inspected. Thirty-six out of 52 aircraft were inspected Wednesday and more will be done today.
"No issues were found," said United spokeswoman Jean Medina about the inspections. She didn't have an estimate of how many passengers have been affected or how much these cancellations would impact finances.
Also Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said four U.S. airlines are being investigated for failing to comply with regulations. The agency said an audit of airline maintenance records found three of the four carriers had missed inspection deadlines, while the other failed to submit a required plan. This comes after a recent string of airline maintenance problems.
The FAA would not name the four carriers under investigation but said penalties could be levied. It will be several months before the probes are complete. Acting FAA Administrator Robert A. Sturgell said the flying public should feel safe despite the maintenance concerns and canceled flights that started with Southwest Airlines Co. last month.
Five of 11 United flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday. The rest were at Denver, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Seattle, Hawaii and some international cities. More are expected today.
Those holding tickets should check the type of aircraft they will have by going to www.united.com or calling (800) UNITED-1.
"This situation developed very quickly," United CEO Glenn Tilton told employees Wednesday. "I know our international stations, such as London and Tokyo, were particularly hard hit, taking the brunt of the customer impact with very little information initially."
Chicago-based United said customers who came to airports Wednesday before the announcement would get full refunds. Others can re-schedule travel plans without fees.
"The company discovered that the functional test that checks the firing system on one of the five bottles in the cargo fire suppression system on the Boeing 777 was not performed, and this was voluntarily disclosed to the FAA," United told customers. "United is in the process of checking this part of the system. This system is regularly tested as part of the pre-flight safety checks."
Among the grounded planes is the chartered United jet carrying the White House press corps and some White House employees who are traveling on President George W. Bush's trip to eastern Europe.
The plane is in Bucharest, where Bush is staying until Friday. The plane will be inspected and no delays are expected, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.