Start-Up Airlines Experience Rough Air on Safety Issue

Since 109 people were killed Saturday in the crash of a ValuJet passenger plane in the Florida Everglades, U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena has tried hard to reassure nervous travelers that America’s airlines and federal regulators are doing all they can to put safety first. But a series of mishaps involving ValuJet planes and other new no-frills airlines is raising hard questions about the ability of start-up companies to deliver maximum safety along with minimum fares.

Mary Fackler Schiavo, a high-ranking Transportation Department official, is quoted this week in Newsweek magazine as expressing concern about the nation’s air safety system. Citing “serious deficiencies in airline inspections, parts and training and in the air traffic control system,” Schiavo declares that she would not use “marginal airlines” for business travel and would avoid ValuJet because of recent safety problems.

On Monday, President Clinton ordered Pena to report to him this week on additional steps the Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration can take “to ensure that all our airlines continue to operate at the highest level of safety.”

Not yet 3 years old, ValuJet, like Southwest Airlines, has built a strong business by offering cut-rate fares with minimal service. But the Atlanta-based carrier has drawn heightened federal scrutiny for problems with its aging planes. A number of its DC-9s (among the oldest craft in the U.S. commercial passenger fleet) have been involved in troubling incidents, including an engine fire last year that forced the evacuation of 60 passengers at Atlanta. Even so, some in the airline industry point out, the safety record of U.S. carriers overall is considered the best in the world.

Whatever the outcome of the investigation into Saturday’s tragedy, the problems at ValuJet and other start-up companies such as Kiwi International Air Lines and Leisure Air will present the FAA with a serious challenge in the near term.