Found here.
From TWU international vice president Dennis Burchette on Grounding of Flights at American Airlines:
I have spent 22 years as a mechanic and quality assurance
inspector at American Airlines and I want to say unequivocally that our
MD-80s are safe. This is more a compliance issue than a safety
question.
Let’s be clear — once the wiring harness was re-routed and then
covered by a protective sleeve, the chances of any safety of flight
issues were minimized. This particular engineering change order first
came to light almost four years ago. Since then there have been
approximately ten revisions! Since the Airworthiness Directive was
issued there have been at least four revisions.Hundreds of highly trained FAA award-winning technicians, the best
in the business, with decades of experience, didn’t simply get it
wrong. These changes have been a moving target.Our members have been working around the clock to get these planes
up in the air as soon as possible. We take our jobs and our
responsibilities seriously. Our goal is to take planes that are safe
and bring them into precise compliance.
It makes me wonder, is it really a safety issue or FAA trying to prove themselves after the hearing? I would not like to fly on an unsafe plane, but as I understand all airlines are very stringent on their safety issues (reminds me of all the times I got delays due to maintenance issues). I think experts from Boeing should be contacted and asked, “if this issue is worth grounding the whole fleet and causing chaos across the country?”
