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Embarrassment. That was the explanation by CBS' Nancy Cordes for the disruption of traffic that halted 275 Delta Airlines flights and 450 at American over the last two days. The embarrassment arose when Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were revealed to have turned a blind eye to lax maintenance checks at Southwest Airlines. To compensate FAA ordered an audit of Southwest's rivals. "The airlines started to scramble to make sure their aging fleet was clear to fly," ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi (embargoed link) said. The latest issue was the condition of bundles of wiring outside the wheel wells of MD-80 jetliners: "They are not dangerous. They just need to be checked." NBC ran the same story Wednesday with Don Teague on the concourse at Dallas-Fort Worth. The disruption would not be so severe, he explained, were the airlines not running so close to capacity. With 76% of their seats occupied they have little leeway to handle extra inspections.
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