SWA Tells The FAA Where To Stick Their Fine

This Friday marks the deadline for Southwest Airlines to pay the $10.2 million fine imposed by the FAA for failure to comply with its maintenance program and flying uninspected aircraft. Southwest does not intend on paying the fine, however. If you recall from the PointNiner archives, this scandal set off an embarrassing chain events both within the FAA and the airlines that led to numerous aircraft inspections and even some additional fines for other airlines. As far as the hefty price Southwest was slapped with, the airline is saying they plan on fighting it. A Wall Street Journal article claims a Southwest spokeswoman as saying "we simply don't agree with [the penalty] and want to talk about it further." The FAA hasn't said what they would do if Southwest doesn't pay up by Friday, but they do have a few options in their deck. The Journal says "typically, the next step is for the agency to ask the Justice Department to file suit on its behalf. With a number of other sizable enforcement cases already pending against other carriers it would be problematic for the FAA's leadership to back down now.” The other option, which is dicey, is to threaten to revoke Southwest's operating certificate but would require some major cojones on the part of the FAA. Let's sit back and see what happens next.

[Today In The Sky]

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TSA's Damaged Planes Reaction: Fine The Airline

The recent post on a TSA inspector damaging 9 American Eagle aircraft at O'Hare drew an enormous amount of honest personal views on what people think of the TSA. This post should only exacerbate those feelings. Instead of apologizing for the now highly publicized incident of using sensitive TAT probes to climb on top of aircraft, the TSA is actually considering levying fines on American Eagle for not properly securing the aircraft. Here's what the TSA posted on their website:

On August 19 a Transportation Security Inspector (TSI) was conducting a routine compliance inspection on aircraft parked on the airfield at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport (ORD). The TSI inspected nine American Eagle aircraft to look for and test, among other things, access vulnerabilities or areas were someone with ill intent could gain access to the aircraft.

Aircraft operators are required to secure each aircraft when left unattended. The TSIs are encouraged to look for and follow through on vulnerabilities. During the inspection process at ORD the Inspector used a Total Air Temperature (TAT) probe – a probe that protrudes from the side of the aircraft that is used to measure outside air temperature – to pull himself up while investigating possible access vulnerabilities with the unattended aircraft.

The Inspector was following through on regulatory inspection activity. The Inspector was able to gain access to the interior of seven of the nine aircraft inspected, which is an apparent violation of the airline’s security program. TSA is reviewing the inspection results and depending on the conclusion, could take action with the airline, up to and including levying of civil penalties.

While the inspection process is a vital layer of aviation security, it is not TSA’s intent to cause delays or potential damage to aircraft as a result of our inspections. TSA took immediate steps to re-enforce education about sensitive equipment located on the exterior of a plane.

Somehow I don't think that last paragraph is going to make any Eagle pilots feel any better about the whole ordeal. The TSA's blog also was quick to point out that this was no ordinary screener but a highly trained and qualified inspector. Wait for it...wait for it...uhmm...nope. No credibility reestablished here.

[Evolution of Security]

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American Slapped With Big Fine, Still Has Enough Cash For New Planes

Five months after the FAA started it's maintenance crackdown following the Southwest Airlines debacle, the agency is still at it. This time they've dropped the hammer on American Airlines with a $7.1 million fine for differing safety related maintenance items on their aircraft. They are alleging the airline flew two MD-83s 58 times last December while knowingly using the wrong provisions of its Minimum Equipment List (MEL). For both aircraft, the problems were noted by an FAA inspector or in the pilot's log, however, American maintenance returned both aircraft to revenue service only to make the fixes at a later date. Part of the fine also includes past deficiencies in its drug and alcohol testing programs and for allegedly operating aircraft in past years without timely inspections of emergency escape path lighting systems. The FAA is adamant with the high amount on the fine because they believe "the carrier did not follow important safety regulations intended to protect passengers and crew."

In an unrelated story from the same day, American sealed the deal with Boeing to finalize an order for an additional 26 Next-Generation 737-800s bringing their total on order to 36. The move comes as American desperately tries to jump start it's fleet renewal program amidst high oil prices with a fleet backbone of fuel hungry MD-80s.

[FAA and Boeing]

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FAA official gets free flight training from Southwest

More good news from the cozy couple that is Southwest Airlines and the FAA. Allegedly the manager at the federal office who oversees Southwest's regulatory compliance received $15,000 worth of free flight training from the airline according to USA Today. Bobby Hedlund, who was promoted last year to head up the Southwest office, received months of training gaining him the equivalent of a type rating in the Boeing 737 all on Southwest's dime. The training is under investigation by the FAA according to spokeswoman Diane Spitalieri, but it has already been called an "an arrangement that violates rules of conduct." This, of course, is all on the heels of an already embarrassing inappropriate relationship between the FAA and Southwest that was outed by FAA whistleblowers in March.

Often FAA inspectors receiving flight training to fulfill their inspection duties and to stay on top of changing technologies, but this training is supposed to be done at the taxpayer's expense, not airlines'. Robert Naccache, a former FAA inspector from the Southwest office called it "the most flagrant conflict of interest that I have ever witnessed in my 20-year career in the federal government." At least Hedlund should have a good career in 737 flying if the FAA decides to let him go.

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FAA inspection manager gets "reassigned" after SWA faux pas

The FAA has "reassigned" one of its regional inspection managers according to USA Today, following a rather embarrassing set of testimonies last week in front of a congressional panel on airline maintenance compliance oversight. Thomas Stuckey, former FAA Southwestern Regional Chief of Inspectors, was accused of being too lenient when it came to airline inspections due to his cozy relationships with the airlines. This led to the debacle with Southwest Airline's uninspected 737s and the now hefty $10.2 million fine for the airline (which is like chump change to Southwest). What's funny is that Stuckey was given "unspecified new duties" a mere 4 days after the hearing. I'm going to assume that "unspecified new duties" means he is in one of the following capacities now:

1. Wiping vulture poop off of the glideslope tower at the Death Valley Airport
2. Manning a VOR station in Nome, Alaska
3. Cleaning the men's restroom at the NY TRACON (as seen in the picture)

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Whisleblowers saying Southwest tried to put the kibosh on them, hide problems

Just when things couldn't get any worse for Southwest Airlines, CNN is now reporting that two FAA safety inspectors are claiming the beleaguered airline tried to hide its safety inspection problem and pressured the FAA to keep the inspectors out of their business. Even worse, when Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters tried to tell their superiors at the FAA about the lack of compliance, nothing was done according to them. Boutris is claiming that the Southwest Airlines Airworthiness Compliance leader even requested that Boutris be removed from the inspection, a request the agency granted. I'm sure now, they'll wish they hadn't done this, or grown so lovey-dovey in their relationships with the airlines they are tasked to regulate.

Of course, Southwest doesn't want to comment on this, their newest faux pas in a round of stupid moves part and parcel to their impending sit down with a congressional panel in the House of Representatives today about these issues. Over at the FAA, however, acting administrator Bobby Sturgell is stepping up and gearing up for his lashings by commenting, "We had a breakdown in the system with Southwest Airlines. It was a two-way breakdown." He'll have a lot more to talk about along with Southwest's chairman, Southwest's CEO, Boutris, and Peters at the panel. The FAA is still pushing its $10.2 million on Southwest over this ordeal, but somehow I think Southwest won't be then only ones getting their peepees slapped on this one.

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Even more FAA inspections fallout

Just a few weeks after the Southwest Airlines inspection debacle, and just a day after American Airlines cancelled a slew of flights for mandatory inspections, Delta Air Lines is now joining the herd by cancelling 325 flights between today and tomorrow. The cancellations will allow for inspections of wiring bundles in their fleet of MD-80s similar to the inspections AA is doing. I'm getting the feeling that we're still just scratching the surface on this whole inspection deal. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone when congress drops the hammer on the FAA here in the near future and demands a rethinking into airworthiness inspection compliance and monitoring. Until then, be sure to check to see if your flight is running on time before you leave the house.

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More FAA Inspections With Some Randomization

Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were ordered yesterday (3/18) to review maintenance records at ALL domestic airlines to ensure that carriers have complied with safety orders and other directives. This is an unprecedented move with the same knee jerk reactionary symptoms the United States deals with on daily basis. I would challenge the FAA to stay on top of these things rather than having a country-wide airline records audit to ensure the FAA has not missed anything or that the airlines are trying to pull a fast one.

As you will recall from the news and our Pointniner blog posts, the FAA is under pressure from Congress to tighten oversight stemming from the alleged inspection lapses at Southwest Airlines that led the agency to propose the record fine of $10.2 million on March 6, 2008.

In response, these audits will give the FAA a snapshot of compliance (or non-compliance) with various safety directives issued over the years that require inspections or other maintenance work. At least part of the audit will focus on airlines flying older Boeing 737 models which have been at the center of the controversy over checks for structural cracks caused by metal fatigue. As for the remaining aircraft, FAA inspectors are free to select which directives to review for at each airline. Time to give the airlines the old "random" cavity check.

According to FAA statistics, there are 4,000 airliners of all types flown by domestic passenger airlines, in addition to the 2,800 regional jets flown by regional carriers. Sounds like a great time, don't you wish you were a FAA auditor?

Regulators do not suspect there are inspection oversight problems (not to cause any alarms), but since Southwest got this all started, they are probably better off being safe than sorry.

Southwest Grounds 44 B737s

Forty-four Boeing planes were grounded "to determine whether they should go through further safety inspections." Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said Wednesday. Which, to me, sounds like a nice beat around the bush answer considering they will have to undergo further safety inspections as the aircraft have been flying past inspection dates.

No one will confirm whether the inspections will be on the fuselage or rudder, issues that have been raised by the FAA as areas of concern. The FAA has also said it may levy an 10+ million dollar fine on Southwest if it's found to have violated the federal aviation regulations. According to FAA documents provided to congressional investigators, in some cases, aircraft were operational 30 months past governmental inspection deadlines. Violation? hmm, maybe.

These 44 737s are not free to move about the country. Time for Southwest to get its wallet out.