The Federal Aviation Administration today grounded Boeing 737 flights run by local cargo airline Transair.
It’s been investigating maintenance and safety issues with the carrier since the fall. The FAA says the suspension is not related to the crash of Transair Flight 810 off Ewa Beach on July 2nd.
The suspension, however, doesn’t prevent the carrier from flying completely.
Transair owner Teimour Riahi has two separate businesses – Rhoades Aviation holds the FAA license for 737s which are grounded. Trans Executive Airways has a license for smaller turboprop planes known as Short 360s and the FAA says those are still allowed to fly. Some former Transair employees are not happy about that.
“The company would routinely have us fly aircraft that were broken for long periods of time,” said one former pilot.
After a Transair plane lost both of its engines and crashed into the ocean, some former employees told KITV4 they weren’t surprised. They blame the company’s disregard for safety protocols.
It is the same issue that this current FAA suspension addresses – citing Transair with deficiencies in maintenance and safety practices.
The employees asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, but each one described a culture of complacency and lack of accountability at Transair.
“There’s zero safety culture… Spend as little money as possible, get the most out of these aircraft,” one pilot said. “When they start digging into the maintenance records of these aircraft, they’re going to find that corners were cut, that inspections were not done.”
Some employees were relieved to see the suspension of the 737s, but worry pilots are risking their lives flying the smaller planes.