Skift Take
The FAA is filing the largest combined penalty ever to be brought against an airline, but the claim may have more to do with the federal agency ensuring they are paid during AMR's restructuring than the implied safety breaches.
Federal safety regulators are seeking up to $162.4 million in fines against American Airlines and its affiliates for alleged violations of U.S. safety standards going back several years. Those sanctions would dwarf any previous penalties against an airline.
Many of the investigations had not been disclosed until the Federal Aviation Administration filed documents describing them to the federal court handling the bankruptcy case of American and parent AMR Corp.
The documents underscore the scope of the FAA's concern about the maintenance program at American, the nation's third-largest airline. They come to light just as American tries to fix labor and financial problems and turn itself around after losing more than
