Gerard Arpey, CEO of American Airlines apologized to customers in a press conference yesterday and said the company is doing everything it can to accommodate them. Arpey said American Airlines mechanics are working round the clock to inspect the remaining aircraft. He praised the American maintenance team stating, “Our mechanics are absolutely not to blame. We have the finest A&Ps in the world. Our mechanics did not fail us in any way.” Arpey said that the instructions to complete the AD, called an engineering change order (ECO), are made by American’s engineering department and are extremely complex. He noted that MD-80s manufactured at different times had variations in the wheel well that also complicated the completion of the instructions. In an effort to avoid any similar situations in the future, Arpey said the company has hired an independent third party to review their processes to see where there were failures. “We failed to get it right, but we are working hard to get it right,” Arpey said. He reiterated that this is a case of technical compliance, not safety. “We were not in technical compliance and that is how these aircraft ended up on the ground,” he said. Arpey emphasized that he believes the aircraft are safe adding, “I put my kids on these aircraft all the time.”
For related story