Southwest Airlines fined over safety issues
Southwest Airlines is in hot water with the Federal Aviation Administration again after the agency proposed two fines totaling $328,550 for two separate aviation violations.
Both alleged violations took place in 2013, the FAA said.
In the first case, a Southwest plane lost cabin pressure en route to St. Louis from Boston and was diverted to Baltimore.
FAA officials said this was due to the failure of Southwest mechanics to do a mandatory inspection and ensure empty oxygen bottles were replaced.
For this case the agency has proposed levying a $265,800 fine.
Southwest’s recently integrated AirTran Airways unit repeatedly operated a Boeing 717 with a leaking air conditioning unit and failed to record it correctly in the log book.
The FAA wants to impose a $62,750 fine for this offence.
"Southwest Airlines has requested to meet with the FAA to discuss each case," the FAA said.
"Upon discovery, each repair was appropriately addressed in accordance with applicable regulations and Southwest Airlines’ maintenance program," said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins, who noted that both cases involved a single airplane.
"These items were fully resolved some time ago and are not currently an issue for aircraft being operated by Southwest Airlines," Hawkins added.
The carrier is currently contesting a $12 million FAA fine for alleged botched repairs on Boeing 737 aircraft which is due to go to trial next year if a settlement cannot be reached.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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