ValuJet Airlines

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ValuJet
IATA J7	ICAO VJA	Callsign CRITTER
Founded		1993
Focus cities		Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Orlando International Airport Boston Logan International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport Philadelphia International Airport
Fleet size		56
Destinations		28
Parent company		Airtran Airways
Headquarters		Clayton County, Georgia, U.S.
Key people		Robert Priddy (Chairman) Maurice Gallagher (CEO & President)
Website: http://www.valujet.com/

ValuJet Airlines was an American low-cost carrier, headquartered in unincorporated Clayton County, Georgia,^[1] that operated regularly scheduled domestic and international flights in the Eastern United States and Canada^[2] during the 1990s. After a series of safety problems and the fatal crash of ValuJet Flight 592, the company executed a reverse merger with the much smaller regional airline AirWays Corp., now known as AirTran Holdings; thus, ValuJet now operates as AirTran Airways.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Inception 1.2 Safety problems 1.3 Fallout from the crash of Flight 592 2 Incidents and accidents 2.1 Flight 597 2.2 Flight 592 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Inception

ValuJet's first flight (Flight 901 from Atlanta to Tampa) was on October 26, 1993, with service from Atlanta to Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa with a single Douglas DC-9 that had previously belonged to its chief competitor, Delta Air Lines. The carrier was headed by a group of industry veterans including co-founder and chairman Robert Priddy, who had started a string of successful airlines including Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), Air Midwest Airlines, and Florida Gulf Airlines. Board members Maury Gallagher and Tim Flynn, the other two co-founders, developed and ran WestAir before selling it to Mesa Airlines; former Continental Airlines and Flying Tigers President Lewis Jordan joined the carrier a short time later as president.

The airline was taken public in June 1994, after a year of tremendous growth with the addition of fifteen planes since the first flight in 1993. It became the fastest airline in the history of American aviation to make a profit, earning US$21 million in 1994 alone. In October 1995, ValuJet placed an order with airplane manufacturer McDonnell Douglas for fifty MD-95 jets (renamed the 717-200 after McDonnell Douglas' merger with Boeing in 1997) with an option for fifty more, thus making it the first low cost airline to launch an aircraft. To keep costs low, the airline also bought many used aircraft from around the world. At the time ValuJet's fleet was among the oldest in the United States averaging 26 years.

[edit] Safety problems

In 1995, the Department of Defense (DoD) rejected ValuJet's bid to fly military personnel, citing unacceptable flaws in the carrier's actions after numerous air accidents. The DoD said that they did not see the changes as long-term, significant changes but rather as short-term, symptomatic repairs.^{[citation needed]}

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Atlanta field office sent a memo on February 14, 1996, to Washington, D.C., stating that "consideration should be given to the immediate FAR-121 rectification of this airline"--in other words, the FAA wanted ValuJet grounded. ValuJet planes made fifteen emergency landings in 1994, fifty-seven in 1995, and fifty-seven from January through May 1996. In February the FAA ordered ValuJet to seek approval before adding any new aircraft or cities to its network, something the industry had not seen since deregulation in 1979. This attempt at removing ValuJet's certification was "lost in the maze at FAA" according to NTSB Chairman Jim Hall. ^[3]

[edit] Fallout from the crash of Flight 592

On May 11, 1996, ValuJet suffered its highest-profile incident when its Flight 592 crashed, killing all aboard. The resulting investigation revealed numerous systemic flaws, and on June 17, 1996, ValuJet was grounded by the FAA. On September 26, 1996, ValuJet resumed flying with 15 jets, down from 52 before the crash, after complying with all U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA requirements. On November 4, 1996, ValuJet announced that Joseph Corr, former CEO of Continental Airlines, would become CEO and President of the airline at a time when the airline was in serious trouble. It had lost $55 million since the crash of Flight 592.

After the large amount of negative publicity surrounding the Flight 592 incident, ValuJet suffered serious financial problems. On July 11, 1997, ValuJet announced it would merge with the much smaller Airways Corporation, parent of AirTran Airways. The merged company would retain the AirTran name, although ValuJet was the senior partner and nominal survivor of the merger. ^[4][5]. In November 1997, the company announced it would move its headquarters from Atlanta to Orlando. On November 17, 1997, AirWays Corp. and ValuJet completed their merger, and the tarnished ValuJet name passed into aviation history.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

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[edit] Flight 597

On June 8, 1995, the DC-9-32 ValuJet flight 597, suffered an aborted takeoff from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport after a catastrophic engine failure. Shrapnel from the right engine penetrated the fuselage and the right engine main fuel line, and a cabin fire erupted. The airplane was stopped on the runway, and captain Greg Straessle ordered evacuation of the airplane.^[6]

The subsequent fire destroyed the aircraft. Among the five crew members, one flight attendant received serious puncture wounds from shrapnel and thermal injuries, and another flight attendant received minor injuries. Of the 57 passengers on board, only five suffered minor injuries.^[7]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the engine failure was caused by a detectable crack in a compressor disk, on which a maintenance contractor had failed to perform a proper inspection and had kept poor records. The incident resulted in the NTSB issuing an advisory recommending improvements to maintenance rules throughout the industry.^[8]

[edit] Flight 592

ValuJet Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996 due to a fire caused by the activation of chemical oxygen generators that were illegally stored in the cargo hold. The fire damaged the plane's electrical system and eventually overcame the crew, resulting in the deaths of all 110 people on board.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Archive of the ValuJet website

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