Dallas, Is There a Problem?

It’s always interesting to watch how a big company responds to a crisis.

Last week, when the FAA slammed Southwest Airlines with a $10.2 million fine for safety violations, Southwest circled the wagons. Deny, deny, deny. Defend, defend, defend. There was no hint that there might actually be a problem.

The PR staff declared the airline never had flown unsafe planes, and CEO Gary Kelly gave interviews calling the FAA fine “unprecedented” and “unfair.”

Suddenly, on Tuesday, everything changed. CEO Kelly was “concerned” after getting preliminary reports of an internal investigation. Three employees were suspended.

Then, today, Southwest announced it had grounded 41 planes for repairs. But the airline still insists it has operated safely.

What’s going on? How serious is it?

The FAA obviously believes it to be quite serious, or it wouldn’t have fined the airline a record $10.2 million or sent a team of auditors to pour over Southwest’s maintenance records. Other experts we’ve talked to say what has come to light is serious stuff.

Surprising, for an airline that has a stellar safety record. Not a single passenger of flight crew member ever killed in a crash.

And consider this: I called a director of Southwest’s mechanics’ union, figuring he might jump at the chance to criticize the airline. After all, the union is fighting SWA’s plans to possibly “outsource” some maintenance to El Salvador.

But Stephen MacFarlane, assistant national director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, couldn’t have been more supportive of Southwest. He says this whole matter is getting “an inordinate amount of attention.”

“This is a great company. They have a terrific safety record,” MacFarlane said. “I would ask people to be calm. Let’s find out the facts.” 

The more we learn, it certainly appears Southwest has some safety issues that need to be addressed.  Are they just “paperwork” issues, or has the airline really cut corners and flown unsafe planes? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

Like anything, the answer probably depends who you ask.  With congressional hearings set for April 3rd, let’s hope the truth comes out. The good, the bad, and the ugly.