AHC: AirTran goes bankrupt in late 1990s — from '96 Everglades crash and resulting name change.

The Lessons of ValuJet 592
As a reconstruction of this terrible crash suggests, in complex systems some accidents may be "normal"—and trying to prevent them all could even make operations more dangerous

The Atlantic, William Langewiesche March 1998 Issue

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/03/the-lessons-of-valujet-592/306534/

' . . . So much work was farmed out to temporary employees and independent contractors that ValuJet was sometimes called a "virtual airline." FAA regulators had begun to worry that the company was moving too fast, . . . '
ValuJet could have taken the more standard corporate tact-- safety is our highest priority, we hired very reputable companies, we're always striving to improve our operations, etc.

To me, a name change is almost an admission of guilt.

Okay, so how does it come back to bite them in the ass? And by the way, this is a heck of an interesting article. It can be read as saying this particular flight went down primarily just due to bad luck. But it's so much more than that, for it builds on the work of Charles Perrow, and argues the case that complexity comes at a higher cost than is generally acknowledged.

complexity —> accident (sometimes)

And I take this to be the guy's basic definition of a "system accident."
 
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ValuJet Flight 592 Memorial

https://medium.com/@jefreyanthony/d...ey-friendship-valujet-flight-592-26e6945a91ea

See also . . . https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article76767282.html

This was the plane which crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996. It was a big deal in the news. And no, I'm not at all sure the reforms were made which would have really made a difference.

The passenger fatalities would be upgraded from 104 to 105, which combined with 5 crew members who perished, would give a total fatality count of 110 persons.
 
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VALUJET CHANGING NAME TO AIRTRAN AIRLINES TODAY

Orlando Sentinel, Roger Roy, Sept. 24, 1997

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.or...s/os-xpm-1997-09-24-9709231235-story,amp.html

‘ . . . ValuJet announced in July it would merge with Orlando-based AirTran Airways . . . ’
This part is about as bland and pro-corporate as can possibly be imagined.

Please notice they are allowing the company to get away with the transparent gimmick of buying a smaller company and using its name because their name has been discredited. The company is artfully using about a two month delay from purchase to name change.

I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy. I am that saying journalists are socialized in such a way that if something is too hard-hitting, it’s somehow viewed as ‘lacking balance,’ ‘editorializing,’ etc.

And news outlets this flat and predictable are regularly played by PR departments. And when they aren’t, the companies complain about lack of ‘fairness’! :openedeyewink:
 
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VALUJET CHANGING NAME TO AIRTRAN AIRLINES TODAY

Orlando Sentinel, Roger Roy, Sept. 24, 1997

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.or...s/os-xpm-1997-09-24-9709231235-story,amp.html

‘ . . . have repeatedly said Orlando is the leading contender for the headquarters, . . . ’

‘ . . . The airline would be exempt from the tax in Atlanta and suburban Washington, the other contenders for the headquarters. . . ’
Some journalists are cynical that you can’t take on these kind of financial interests. But more commonly, it’s the internalizing of ‘norms,’ such that it would be unseemingly to bring up an aspect already covered in July. So . . .

POD 1: A major Florida newspaper does aggressively pursue this story and it’s many permutations.
 
ValuJet Buys Airline --and a New Name
Los Angeles Times (from Associated Press), July 11, 1997

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-11-fi-11690-story.html


'After more than a year of reminding too many people of a disaster rather than low fares, ValuJet on Thursday said it would take a new name.

'ValuJet is buying a much smaller airline, AirTran Airways, from Airways Corp. for $66.3 million worth of stock and taking its name. . . '

A little more hard-hitting article from the Los Angeles Times.

But at the time of the purchase, not at the time of ValuJet's official name change two months later.
 
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