FAA Fines For Southwest Airlines Safety Violations

[nhmaf]

thanks for the insight Bob !

Several colleagues and I were discussing this latest fiasco at work today - it certainly seems like these inspections could have been performed
at key service locations and during off peak times such that we wouldn't have to deal with such a dramatic disruption of service over what is really an administrative inspection/technicality.   Now, as an engineer (but not aeronautical), I advocate safety, but I think that this is going way beyond what is needed to address the problem and is probably more politically motivated than anything else.    The work ethics of the politicians have infected the FAA - let's not do anything for most of the time, but every once in a while, during an important election year, let's really create a huge, controversial mess and claim it is for the benefit of our dearly appreciated american taxpayer !

Sorry, haven't had my US RDA of ethyl alcohol yet,
 

[Bob_Roller]

This was a regulatory compliance issue, not a safety of flight issue.

I wish that an operator of MD-80 aircraft would invite a news crew to document what exactly this whole issue is.

I bet the flying public in the US would hand the FAA their heads again for this 'publicity' stunt, if they actually got the full story, unbiased.

[donbmw]

The FAA is more about regluatory issues than safety.

Don

[Bob_Roller]

This issue with American Airlines MD-80 aircraft, has come out of the same FAA district office in the Dallas area, that had oversight responsibility of Southwest Airlines.

American Airlines is based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport, DFW is their largest operation.

From accounts of people that have dealings with that office, it was like a thermonuclear bomb went off there, after the hearings last week.