Cracks found in Boeing 767s raise concerns for El Al fleet
The Israeli airline, which was privatized in 2003, is scheduled to receive its eighth 767 jet shortly, after having leased it abroad.
By Zohar BlumenkrantzThe U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has found structural cracks in three Boeing 767 airplanes flown by American Airlines in a recent safety inspection. El Al Israel Airlines has eight 767s in its fleet.
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A Delta Boeing 767. |
| Photo by: Bloomberg |
The cracks in the American Airlines aircraft raised concerns over safety of the Boeing model, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The report said that FAA officials suspect that the cracks discovered on one particular airplane - in a section connecting the plane's engine to the wing - could cause the engine to separate in flight.
El Al said yesterday that no advisory has been received from Boeing on the matter, adding that it would "follow all possible developments in the matter."
The Israeli airline, which was privatized in 2003, is scheduled to receive its eighth 767 jet shortly, after having leased it abroad.
The same 767 model is also used by Delta and Air Canada on its Israel flights.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the FAA said it is working with American Airlines and Boeing to identify the cause of the cracks and is considering issuing a safety directive, which could include more frequent inspections of the suspect parts.
An American Airlines spokesman stated that he does not agree with the FAA view regarding the potential hazard the cracks pose. He added that speculation on the matter is not based on the technical findings.
Boeing's 767 first entered service in 1982 and is considered a relatively old model aircraft.
On his recent trips to France and Canada, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew on a Boeing 767, supplied by El Al.
Arkia does not fly this model of jet.
El Al expanding fleet, but dropping 747-200
In other El Al news, the airline, which is controlled by the Borovich family, is expanding its flight schedule for the summer.
In addition to the leased 767 it is adding to its fleet, it will also be acquiring an additional plane, a Boeing 737, for its new route to Eilat, set to launch in late July.
Meanwhile, El Al removed its last 747-200 from service last week, raising questions as to whether the airline can provide the country with sufficient cargo capacity in the event of an emergency. When the airline was privatized, it was required to maintain a minimum number of airplanes for such emergency missions as flying in ammunition from abroad. That arrangement was based on El Al's fleet of 747-200s.
The airline later struck a deal with the Defense Ministry by which its emergency fleet was limited to three planes. One of El Al's 747-200s was old and taken out of service, a second was put into storage for use during emergencies and now a third 747-200 is being taken out of service.
Previously, the company had replaced a 747-200 with a 747-400 cargo plane, but this aircraft is leased rather than owned by El Al, as the initial agreement with the government required.
The airline declined to comment on the issue for this article.
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that crashed in Amsterdam when two engines fell off?
Although the silver lining in the cloud is that Israel's exports fell 4.5% last month so the capacity required is not so large as was previously thought.
It's a reason to choose Turkish Airlines.
As I understand this article, the 767's are just used airplanes, bought secondhand. Of course, there is going to be problems with this. I know it is expensive to buy new airplanes, but human lives are more valuable - correct ?
Cracks is planes is not a because of bad maintenance its because over the years fatigue sets in and other than being an older model these planes were leased ( most smaller airlines lease at least some of their planes ) . All planes though suffer from fatigue and its something all airlines have to deal with over the years. The fact these crasks were discovered before things could get any worse is a compliment to the ground crews who maintain the planes.
Delta doesn't use 767s to Israel anymore. It used to operate the 767-300ER on its daily route from JFK to TLV. This has last month been changed to a 747-400. Aside from EL AL, the only airlines using 767s from/to Israel are: Austrian twice a day on it's Vienna route Air Canada on its Toronto route and occassionally Ethiopian on its Addis Abeba route.
I have stopped flying with El Al because of the lack of room on the 767 and their sloppy and impolite service.
Jerry I disagree with your comments on ELAL. I fly ELAL on the JNB route. The planes are very clean. I very rarely arrive late. And the service is way better than most other airlines I fly with. The flight time to JNB is 9 hours and the 767 does not go slower than other aircraft in the same category. It is not noisier than an A340 in the cabin. What factless arrogance!
the State of Israel should never sell of strategic companies,this is the example. In case of emergency this can be a disaster. And why ? because "Privatisation"" was the holy cow.
And the reason is that the government can't be trusted to stay on top of the requirements it made El Al agree to. If the government was doing its job, then privatization could be possible, but they are too busy with their own power and prestige to worry about a few cracks around the engine of a plane which flies a transatlantic route.
Delta does not currently use a 767 on any Tel Aviv market. They fly a 747 from JFK and a 777 from Atlanta. Since you are reporting on El Al airplanes, perhaps it would be more appropriate to feature an image of an El Al airplane...
Delta uses a 767 for most of the year but changed to a 747 for the summer flux of passengers.
Yet another reason not to fly Every Landing Always Late airlines. Crap planes, crap service, crap planes. Fly a 767 10 hours to Jo'burg and you find out just how noisy, uncomfortable and slow a 767 is. This shows direction of the airlines - low cost airlines, with high cost tickets
I disagree with your comments. On some routes these days ELAL is better value for money than the big boys who act more like expensive no frills airlines charging extra for every other thing that was once free. ELAL are much more lenient on baggage allowances, you can even bring bikes free of charge now and the ticket prices for the other airlines are also going up so there isn't even much of a ticket price difference these days in some cases ELAL is cheaper. I find the seating on most of the aircraft comfortable enough and certainly no less comfortable than any of the major airlines. Agreed the staff still have a lot to learn about service they are not as friendly or accommodating as on companies but you don't travel ELAL for the politeness of crew. As for being late I don't think there is such thing as an airline that has a reputation for being late above others because it's all down to what's going on at the airport & 90% of the time beyond the airlines control. ELAL isn't perfect but tell me an airline that is.