Flying the unfair skies
WANT to get away?
Last March, the Federal Aviation Administration fined Southwest $10.2 million for operating nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 on 46 planes without mandatory inspections for fuselage fatigue cracks. American, according to the Wall Street Journal, may be fined between $20 million and $30 million for this summer's fiasco, where its entire fleet of 300 MD-80 planes was grounded because of improperly wrapped wiring that could have caused fires or explosions. Over 3,000 flights were cancelled, disrupting a quarter-million travelers.
These were no small problems. But the Journal reported this week that both airlines are trying to get the penalties reduced. Southwest and American say they have moved prudently to rectify the lapses. To be sure, the Southwest debacle exposed the FAA itself as having some supervisors who winked at missed inspections. That does not diminish the obvious benefit of the big stick in a system that has experienced no fatal passenger airline crashes in the United States in over two years. The threat of big fines are also needed as a counterweight to the efforts of the airlines to cozy up to the government. Air transport industry lobbyists spent nearly $150 million the last two years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Southwest thumbed its nose at the FAA in August, missing the deadline to pay its fine. Southwest and American should pay what fines are due from them and comply with inspections rules. When Americans want to get away, they have a right to expect the airlines don't get away with backdoor compromises on safe skies. 