Allegiant says it has met FAA's safety-related concerns

Federal aviation officials are satisfied that Allegiant Air is taking steps to address problems that inspectors found during a three-month review of the low-cost airline. Allegiant met a Friday deadline for telling the FAA how it would comply with suggested improvements in training, maintenance and procedures. None of the shortcomings were considered severe enough to warrant regulatory action against the airline. "We were always a safe airline. This gives credence to our claim," Jude Bricker, Allegiant's COO since January, said Friday. The FAA does a lengthy review of all airlines every five years but moved up its inspection of Allegiant by two years after an aborted takeoff, a plane that nearly ran out of fuel, and other events. Among the weaknesses identified by inspectors: An inspector saw an instructor giving wrong advice to a pilot training on a simulator to land after an engine failure, dispatchers didn't get required training about fatigue, ground workers didn't follow procedure while planes pushed away from the gate, and there were paperwork and training-material problems. "They found these findings, they are minor in nature by the FAA's own classifications, and we're going to not challenge them," Bricker said.<br/>