ValuJet Unlikely to Fly Soon

The Federal Aviation Administration has told ValuJet Inc. that the embattled carrier may be unable to resume flight operations within 30 days, the airline’s president said Friday.

Separately, the FAA late Friday announced that another upstart carrier, Kiwi International Airlines, had agreed to cut its flights by 25% because of deficiencies in the Newark, N.J.-based carrier’s pilot records, an issue that had grounded the airline twice before.

Lewis Jordan, ValuJet’s president and chief operating officer, told Reuters in an interview that FAA officials instead have discussed the possibility of a return to service within 45 days.

But Jordan said the budget airline is still committed to resuming operations within 30 days so that ValuJet planes are back in the air before the start of the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

“We said repeatedly we would like to be back up in 30 days. They’ve said repeatedly, the FAA, that they doubted 30 days was doable. There have been some remarks made within the FAA that 45 days might be doable. We’re at their mercy,” Jordan said.

But an FAA spokeswoman said the federal agency is working with no time frame concerning Atlanta-based ValuJet’s intended return to service. “I cannot address what Mr. Jordan is saying, other than to say we’re not putting any time frames on it,” Diane Spitalieri said.

“The only thing that we’re saying is that they will remain grounded until such a time that ValuJet can demonstrate that appropriate corrective action has been taken.”