America West Still Focus of FAA

America West Airlines, hobbled by maintenance lapses in recent years, said the Federal Aviation Administration still has “concerns about certain of the airline’s maintenance records and reliability programs.” But the Phoenix-based carrier said it reached a pact with the FAA on certain actions “to address those concerns,” including a “comprehensive plan to review and update its maintenance programs” that must be filed within a month. The airline also said the FAA “would provide special oversight of America West’s maintenance operations” while the plan is completed. Two years ago, America West was fined $5 million by the agency for maintenance and operational problems, but the fine was cut in half after the airline complied with a major overhaul of its maintenance and flight operations.