Southwest re-inspects 737 fleet - outside consultant to review maintenance programme
13 Mar 2008
Southwest Airlines removed 38 Boeing 737 Classics from service on Tuesday for inspections, in a move that it said was part of its "ongoing internal review of….maintenance programs, policies and procedures." The inspections come in the aftermath of a massive $10.2 million penalty imposed last week by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) for alleged safety lapses.
The withdrawal of aircraft affected about four per cent of the airline's schedule. In a related action the airline also placed three employees on administrative leave. It said it hoped to have the grounded aircraft back in service today.
The airline said that it took this action after it found "ambiguity related to required testing" during a review of maintenance records. "Southwest made the decision to take a conservative approach and remove aircraft out of scheduled service. . .[and] immediately began re-inspecting those aircraft," it said.
Five other B737 Classics, already in maintenance for scheduled inspections, will be inspected once again, it said.
There was no clarification from the airline as to what was being inspected, nor was there a clarification whether any of these aircraft were among the 46 B737s that the FAA alleged were used without proper inspections last year.
"I am concerned with some of our findings [from the internal review] as to our controls over procedures within our maintenance airworthiness directive and regulatory compliance processes," CEO Gary Kelly said. "I have insisted that we have the appropriate maintenance organizational and governance structure in place to ensure that the right decisions are being made."
SWA also said it has "hired a respected outside consultant with proven experience to help review its maintenance program controls, especially airworthiness directive compliance."
