DALLAS - American Airlines, the second-biggest US carrier, said it's limiting the number of people on board its
A routine audit of American's fleet found the 58 767-300s came up short on raft space after two more business-class seats were installed on each jet, spokesman Tim Wagner said yesterday. He said the check wasn't tied to the Jan. 15 ditching of a
Passengers on American were never in danger, the airline said in a note to employees.
American is capping passengers and crew on the 767s at 228, down from 236, Wagner said. The jets make up 9.3 percent of the airline's fleet. The additional seats were put in from 2005 through 2007.
American notified the Federal Aviation Administration upon discovering "a potential discrepancy" between the maximum capacity of the rafts and the number of people aboard the planes, according to the memo.
Airlines must have raft space for children carried on passengers' laps, as well as ticketed travelers and crew, and also carry an additional raft in case one fails, Wagner said.