Swa maintenance issues?

[AV80R]

No SWA bashing please but has this article already been posted? Also, do you think this will hurt the SWA growth rate?


Southwest Airlines allowed to fly 'unsafe' planes for months.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- -- Discount air carrier Southwest Airlines flew thousands of passengers on aircraft federal inspectors said were "unsafe" as recently as last March, according to detailed congressional documents obtained by CNN. Congressional documents show Southwest Airlines flew thousands of passengers on aircraft deemed "unsafe" by federal inspectors.

Documents submitted by FAA inspectors to congressional investigators allege the airline flew at least 117 of its planes in violation of mandatory safety checks. In some cases, the documents say, the planes flew for 30 months past government inspection deadlines that should have grounded the planes until the inspections could be completed.
The planes were "not air worthy," according to congressional air safety investigators.
Calling it "one of the worst safety violations" he has ever seen, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, is expected to call a hearing as soon as possible to ask why the airline put its own passengers in danger.
Southwest Airlines, which carried more passengers in the United States than any other airline last year, declined comment on the allegations.
"We are not doing interviews. We are only preparing for the hearings at this time," said Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King.
cont...

Full article

 

[Headfake14]

yada yada...someone trying to dig up dirt on them.

 

[captainv]

Yada yada yada?

SWA flew 30 months past inspection and that's not a big deal?

 

[wildcard]

Hate to say this but Welcome Southwest to the Airline industry. They are NOW like everyone else! This is truely a sad day.

 

[Zdriver]

My guess for what it's worth, is they just switched over to a new computerized maintance program, which caught the mistake. The oversite was self reported, there will probly be fines associated with the oversite, but these things happen all the time in aviation.

 

[becket]

yada yada...someone trying to dig up dirt on them.

What a stupid comment. Did you read the report? Do you know what a rudder hard-over is? PIT 1994 ring a bell?

It's been patently obvious to anybody that flys for a living that SWA has Always gotten preferential treatment by the FAA. Now heads are probably going to start rolling. It's about damn time.

Let's see "ol' herb" up on the hill, and joke his way out of this one.

 

[embpic1]

Well it is the main story on cnn.com. It looks like they did not self disclose. Two FAA inspectors are blowing the whistle on this one. It sounds like some FAA officials are in hot water also.

 

[Raskal]

Wow, just when all my faith in airline management was restored...

 

[Quimby]

What a stupid comment. Did you read the report? Do you know what a rudder hard-over is? PIT 1994 ring a bell?

It's been patently obvious to anybody that flys for a living that SWA has Always gotten preferential treatment by the FAA. Now heads are probably going to start rolling. It's about damn time.

Let's see "ol' herb" up on the hill, and joke his way out of this one.

so much venom towards SWA......what'd they do to you?

 

[A-Track]

They did self disclose but still did nothing about it. I guess I missed the part in the FAR's where AD's are optional.

"The documents show Southwest Airlines voluntarily disclosed some of the missed inspections last spring, and Southwest Airlines told the Wall Street Journal it did not expect any civil penalties to be imposed because of the self-disclosure.
But, even after the airline's disclosure, FAA inspectors assert that planes continued to fly, in some cases for more than a week, before inspections were complete. The airline "did not take immediate, corrective action," according to the congressional documents obtained by CNN."