Originally Posted by
Packrat
The bottom line is your engine shutdown/failure rate is abysmal. Even though there has been press coverage (minor) people don't pay attention until a load of passengers get killed.
The only thing that is saving "new ValuJet" is the skill of your pilots. If I was there, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to defend the maintenance practices of your airline.
Oh, well the mighty alaska big mouth has spoken, so i guess that's that.
I'm thinking that since you don't work here, you have the same sensationalized information available that the general public does, so you probably don't need to weigh in on what you think our issue is any more than the passenger in 28D does.
I've read that dramatic Tampa Bay Times article too, but really, we have very few engine failures/shutdowns fleet wide. And most of the incidents we have are on planes that are being retired this year and are for non engine issues. There's room for improvement, but our maintenance oversight and reliability have gotten 1000% better here over the last year.
But it's pretty easy to throw rocks from across the street isn't it? By all means, go ahead. Let's not talk about Angle Lake's antics.