Originally Posted by dutch rudder

Ahh, good Ol' Willy Levesque! Tampa Bay Times finest dramatist. My favorite part… Federal records show that Janovsky’s plane had been forced to land due to a faulty air circulation fan, a key part of a system that keeps the cabin pressurized, among other things. It was one of at least four serious mechanical failures involving that jet in the past 15 months… Really? A recirculation fan is a key system that keeps the cabin pressurized? That’s a load of BS. It recirculates the air in the cabin so farts don’t smell so bad. This is branded as a “serious mechanical failure!”

Or how about… The engine on Stoffel’s plane caught fire during an aborted landing… No it didn’t! I’m not trying to downplay that issue, but Ol’ Will makes the story better by using the words “caught fire!” I love it.

Yes, we overstretched our operation during this time period as stated by several big wigs. Historically, our 80’s fly about half the hours of another carriers 80’s because of the business model. We had the appropriate maintenance corresponding to lower utilization. Then, around summer ’15, we exploded and flew the crap out of them. Paired with inadequate management (most of whom are gone), this lead to the “rough summer.” However, this “death and destruction” picture Willy paints is a huge misrepresentation.