FAA suing Southwest for maintenance violation fine

Southwest Airlines will contest a $12 million fine handed down by federal regulators earlier this year for faulty maintenance work on 44 jets in and before 2009.

The Federal Aviation Administration sued Southwest Monday after the two parties failed to reach a compromise on the amount of fine to be paid.

"We dispute the FAA’s allegations and look forward to the opportunity to vigorously defend Southwest’s record in a court of law," airline spokesman Chris Mainz said.

Penalties are fairly common for such breaches and airlines and the FAA usually come to an agreement for lower settlements.

The FAA lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Seattle said ‘the parties were not able to reach a compromise on the proposed civil penalties.’

The maintenance work involved the use of wrong fuselage fasteners by a Southwest maintenance contractor, and for not correctly supporting the aircraft when work was carried out.

In the original civil penalty action, the FAA concluded Southwest was ultimately responsible for the maintenance of its planes even though a private contractor – Aviation Technical Services Inc. of Everett, Washington – carried out the work.

In a similar FAA action back in 2010 Southwest settled a claim for $7.5 million with the government after a civil penalty of $10.2 million was imposed.