Frontier Airlines has raised objections to proposed requirements intended to reduce the potential for fuel-tank explosions, saying the type of planes it flies haven't ever had such safety problems.
The Denver-based airline also called the proposal costly, saying in a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration that the carrier would have to shell out $11 million just to meet the regulations and would incur more costs going forward.
"This is a very large additional expense to Frontier," company spokesman Andrew Hudson said.
Frontier opposes a move by the FAA to enact industry rules governing flammability exposure levels in some types of fuel tanks. To comply with the proposed regulations, carriers essentially would have to install new systems that replace oxygen in the fuel tanks with an inert gas, the FAA said. The goal is to prevent flammable vapors in fuel tanks from igniting.
An estimated 3,200 Boeing and Airbus planes with center-wing fuel tanks would have to be upgraded with the new systems, the FAA said, costing the industry more than $300 million.
Rocky Mountain News
The Denver-based airline also called the proposal costly, saying in a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration that the carrier would have to shell out $11 million just to meet the regulations and would incur more costs going forward.
"This is a very large additional expense to Frontier," company spokesman Andrew Hudson said.
Frontier opposes a move by the FAA to enact industry rules governing flammability exposure levels in some types of fuel tanks. To comply with the proposed regulations, carriers essentially would have to install new systems that replace oxygen in the fuel tanks with an inert gas, the FAA said. The goal is to prevent flammable vapors in fuel tanks from igniting.
An estimated 3,200 Boeing and Airbus planes with center-wing fuel tanks would have to be upgraded with the new systems, the FAA said, costing the industry more than $300 million.
Rocky Mountain News
