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DETROIT (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration ordered discount carrier Pro Air to halt all flights beginning today because of serious aircraft safety problems.

The struggling 3-year-old airline, which operates three Boeing 737 aircraft from Detroit City Airport, said today that it suspended operations at midnight but will appeal the order.

"The airline has reviewed the order and believes it was issued erroneously and was based on incorrect and outdated information," Pro Air said in a news release today.

In announcing the emergency order Monday, the FAA revoked Pro Air's operating certificate.

The safety agency said it acted because Pro Air, which has faced increasing financial problems, has shown it "lacks the qualifications required of the holder of an air carrier certificate."

"Continuing maintenance, oversight, quality control and record-keeping problems resulted in widespread failures to comply with applicable federal aviation regulations," the FAA said in a news release.

Refunds available

Pro Air said passengers who have bought tickets should contact their credit card companies for full refunds.

Northwest Airlines said Monday night that it would accept most Pro Air tickets for flights on its own aircraft.

"We will take for standby travel anybody who's holding a confirmed ticket for Pro Air, that is, anybody who's paid money," said Jon Austin, a spokesman for Eagan, Minnesota-based Northwest.

Northwest would not honor standby tickets bought by Pro Air customers who had not left their original destination Monday, Austin said. But those who used standby tickets to complete half of a round trip, or were laid over after the first leg of a trip, could fly Northwest back to their original destination at no cost, he said.

Under FAA rules, Pro Air has 10 days to appeal the emergency order but cannot operate unless it is reversed.

An appeal would be to an administrative law judge for the National Transportation Safety Board, said FAA spokesman Eliot Brenner.

Order may not be fatal

The order is a serious blow to Pro Air's efforts to remain in business but is not necessarily the end of the line.

The FAA issued a similar order against ValuJet after a 1996 Florida crash that killed 110 people. The company then merged with the Orlando-based carrier AirTran Airways, and now flies under the name AirTran.

Pro Air lost $9.9 million on operating revenues of $8 million in the second quarter of 2000, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records.

Pro Air in June halted flights to four unprofitable destinations, as part of cost-cutting efforts.

In addition to trimming about 90 employees, Pro Air stopped flying to Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Seattle and Newark, New Jersey. It continued flying to Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Baltimore and Orlando, Florida.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), September 20, 2000