KIWI INTERNATIONAL is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration to resolve pilot-training issues which have led to the grounding of four of its 15 Boeing 727s, and a 25% reduction in flights.
Founded in 1992, the New York (Newark)-based low-cost carrier has undergone management shake-ups, and ran foul of the FAA in late 1994 when it was subject to a short service suspension for poor documentation of pilot training.
The FAA discovered in a special two-week inspection that 30 of Kiwi's 277 pilots are not properly certificated because the carrier used unapproved programmes to check pilots. They are being rechecked.
An FAA official, in noting the high turnover of management and "a lack of stability", says that Kiwi "-doesn't have an organisation of sufficient size and scope".
Source: Flight International
