The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive Friday requiring that airlines inspect about 600 Boeing 737s to check a mechanism that controls the flap on the horizontal tails of the jets.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boei...eing737s13.html

...must be checked within 12 days or within 30 days depends upon its age...

Not very strict, eh?! "It

Some of that time allotted before an inspection must be made variation will be down to the amount of cycles the aircraft has made, and to be honest, the way Ryanair fly the &@($* off their planes, one can understand why it might not be so urgent for a lot of other operators. Don't forget that Ryanair are really hard on airframes because of the use they make of their craft, as evidenced by the fact that they tend to get rid of their aircraft after only a few years.Nothing wrong with that if they want to maximise the money they make from their aircraft, but they are hardly a typical operator in that respect. I've personally been on board Ryanair 737s that landed, offloaded passengers, got a quick clean up, loaded new passengers and got taxying for take off again in under twenty minutes.EDIT: Just read the full AD for this, and it seems that the reason it is not being suggested that the problem needs looking at instantly, is because the wear on the lug that causes the tab to vibrate would give quite a bit of warning that it was wearing out, through vibration, which only if left unchecked, could then cause problems, so presumably if there is no evidence of vibration at present on an aircraft, then the lug has not worn sufficiently to cause the issue.Al

-------Nothing wrong with that if they want to maximise the money they make from their aircraft, but they are hardly a typical operator in that respect. I've personally been on board Ryanair 737s that landed, offloaded passengers, got a quick clean up, loaded new passengers and got taxying for take off again in under twenty minutes.-------Al

Similar for WestJet 737s here in Maple Leaf land. And have you seen the Captain also cleaning up cabin debris as a flight attendant zipped up the aisle with a mini carpet sweeper? Then off again in 20-25 minutes for another 1-2 hour leg.Alex Reid