AIRLINES

Inspection Prompts America West to Add Mechanics: The low-fare carrier is adding 56 employees, including mechanics, after a federal inspection raised questions about its maintenance procedures, federal regulators said. The Federal Aviation Administration conducted an inspection of Phoenix-based America West Airlines Inc. from June 25 to July 12, said William White, deputy director for flight standard services. Although some problems were found, the airline has cooperated in making corrections and meets all federal requirements, he said. He said the FAA acted because of changes in the way the airline was handling maintenance. America West laid off 400 mechanics in December and hired outside contractors to do the work. White noted that outside contracting at Atlanta-based ValuJet Inc. led to maintenance failures there. ValuJet was grounded June 17.