Spirit Airlines canceled about 100 flights on Friday after pulling several planes from service for inspections, and the airline expects the disruption to last several days.
Spirit did not describe the type of inspection and did not respond to requests for more information, but the Federal Aviation Administration said it involved inspecting the brackets on the plane’s airframe.
By late Friday afternoon, Spirit had canceled 11% of its schedule for the day, easily the highest percentage of scrubbing flights among major US airlines, according to tracking service FlightAware.
“We have canceled a portion of our scheduled flights to perform necessary inspections on a small portion of our 25 aircraft,” Spirit said in a statement. “The impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete inspections and work to return to normal operations.”
The FAA said it was aware of Spirit’s decision to pull the aircraft from service for a “mandatory maintenance inspection.”
The inspection was needed to look for signs of cracking around the fasteners that attach the pressure panels to the beams on the airframe, according to FAA documents.
The FAA said it was aware of Spirit’s decision to pull the aircraft from service for a “mandatory maintenance inspection.”
If left undetected, the cracks could lead to reduced structural integrity “and possible rapid decompression of the airplane,” according to the document.
Fatigue cracking of aircraft frames is a long-known risk.
Inspections conducted by Spirit have been required by European and US regulators for years and were last updated by the FAA in 2018.
The FAA said that for the Spirit aircraft, it “will ensure that the matter is addressed before the airplane is returned to service.”
The inspection was needed to look for signs of cracking around the fasteners that attach the pressure panels to the beams on the airframe, according to the FAA document.REUTERS
Spirit had 198 aircraft as of June 30, all variants of the Airbus A320 family, according to the company’s regulatory filing.
The airline is telling customers to check their flight status before going to the airport.
About half of Spirit’s cancellations are at Orlando International Airport in Florida, where Spirit is the second largest airline.
Inspections conducted by Spirit have been required by European and US regulators for years and were last updated by the FAA in 2018.REUTERS
Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, has canceled more than 3,600 flights this year, or 1.5% of its schedule.
That’s lower than the 2% cancellation rate at Frontier Airlines, a similar budget carrier, and the rates for JetBlue Airways and United Airlines.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
