The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking a record $162.4 million of proposed and potential civil penalties from American Airlines parent AMR Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The FAA is seeking a total of $156.5 million from American Airlines alone for alleged maintenance problems going back to 2007. That sum includes one previously disclosed civil penalty, $24.2 million, proposed in 2010 for the company's alleged improper fixes of electrical wiring around landing gear on its MD-80 fleet in 2008. Because the agency had to file its claims by the July 16 deadline in the AMR chapter 11 case, a number of major probes are still under way and American has not received formal penalty letters about them. The largest potential penalties listed for individual enforcement cases are $39.3 million, $28.8 million and $27.6 million.
