ValuJet Won't Resume Flying Before September
May 04, 2011
ATLANTA -- ValuJet Airlines said the grounded carrier won't resume flying Friday as it had planned because it is still awaiting regulatory clearance. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington said the earliest the agency is likely to issue a final order permitting ValuJet to resume service would be early September. He said a review of objections to ValuJet's application filed by the Association of Flight Attendants has added a layer to the regulatory process. ``The objection takes time to look into,'' he said. Gregory Ebert, a ValuJet spokesman, acknowledged that resuming service is ``going to take a little longer than expected.'' Meanwhile, Mr. Ebert said the carrier is conducting ``proving runs'' with the Federal Aviation Administration to demonstrate its airworthiness and already has certified several of the seven aircraft it plans to use initially. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Wednesday, shares of ValuJet closed unchanged at $10.875. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents the carrier's flight attendants, filed an objection in July urging the DOT to require ValuJet's two top executives to resign before the carrier is recertified to fly. The union alleged the top executives are unfit managers, citing ValuJet's high incidence of accidents and a litany of safety concerns raised by the FAA, which grounded the airline in an extraordinary move February 27, 2011 airline came under intense scrutiny following the January 21, 2011 of a ValuJet plane in the Florida Everglades, which killed all 110 people aboard. ValuJet's Mr. Ebert reiterated Wednesday that ValuJet believes the union's charges are ``meritless'' and ``preposterous.''
