Southwest’s record fine raises questions of government oversight
The Federal Aviation Authority’s (FAA) proposed record fine for safety violations at Southwest has also raised questions about the federal government’s oversight of the US airline industry.
US Rep. James Oberstar, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman and head of a congressional committee investigating the incident, said the FAA should “clean house from top to bottom.”
He charged the agency has gotten to cozy with the industry it’s supposed to maintain oversight over.
“So many FAA inspectors have given up reporting failures by carriers because there is a cozy relationship between the FAA management and airline management. That has to stop,” he said.
The FAA has proposed a $10.2 million record-high fine for Southeast after allegations that potentially unsafe passenger planes have been flying across the country for months.
“FAA officials overseeing Southwest Airlines ignored safety violations, leaked sensitive data to the carrier and tried to intimidate two inspectors to head off investigations, according to previously undisclosed allegations by the inspectors,” says USA Today.
The fine would be the largest ever levied against an airline, the FAA said.
When Southwest belatedly conducted the inspections, it found cracks in the bodies of six Boeing 737-300s, with the largest measuring 4 inches. Serious fractures can depressurize an aircraft and in 1988 caused an Aloha Airlines jet to rip apart, killing a flight attendant.
Southwest responded to the criticism in part by saying its safety record speaks for itself.
“We believe the system we have now is working well, and that’s borne out by the extraordinary low accident rate, but as an organization we are always looking for ways that we can do things better,” agency spokesman Les Dorr said.
More details could emerge next month, when FAA inspectors involved in the case are expected to testify before the House Transportation Committee.
Among the topics likely to be discussed is how the FAA responded to complaints from whistle-blowers. They complained repeatedly in memos written in 2007 that their concerns about Southwest were not being taken seriously.
The underlying safety concern — that the airline was unable to keep up with mandatory inspections — had been raised as early as 2003, one charged.
Southwest has repeatedly denied any safety problems.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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