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1. FAA proposes $1.1 million fine for Southwest maintenance
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $1.1 million fine against a company for alleged maintenance violations involving 44 Southwest Airlines planes.
The fine proposed Monday against Aviation Technical Services of Everett, Wash., was for improperly inspecting and repairing the fuselages on Southwest's Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
But the Southwest jet whose roof was ripped open in April with 118 people aboard wasn't among the planes in the FAA complaint. That plane landed safely in Yuma, Ariz.
The airline holds its contractors to "the highest possible standards" and that Southwest has improved maintenance since the problems alleged in the complaint, which were from December 2006 to September 2009.
John Cox, a former airline pilot who now runs consulting firm Safety Operating Systems, says it sounds like regulators are concerned about the repetitive nature of the problem rather than anything that could have grounded the planes.
"I'd get on a Southwest airplane in the morning and I'd put my family on without a second thought," Cox says. "This says more that the FAA was concerned with the process violations than the safety violations."
FAA fines are typically negotiated with companies as they remedy any violations. The company has 30 days to reply.
The complaint says Aviation Technical Services failed to accomplish five repetitive inspections and a one-time inspection to find and repair cracks in the planes' skins. After the inspections, it allegedly failed to install fasteners in rivet holes in the time specified as sealant dried.
"Aircraft can be operated safely for years if all the maintenance work is performed properly," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in issuing the complaint.
Aviation Technical Services says safety is its foremost goal and it's "confident that our systems and protocols meet or exceed every industry standard for maintenance excellence and safety."
This is the second proposed fine against the company in the past year. The FAA proposed a $530,250 fine in November for improper work to detect skin cracks while maintaining 14 Southwest planes.
2. Mica 'willing to compromise' on FAA bill
Congress will consider this week whether to extend the Federal Aviation Administration until Jan. 31 to give lawmakers more breathing room to settle long-simmering disputes about the agency.
The agency, which has staggered along under 21 temporary extensions since 2007, faces a potential shutdown Friday because of the legislative impasse.
REUTERS: Congress set to avoid US transport shutdowns
But Rep. John Mica, the chairman of the House transportation committee, is sponsoring legislation that would allow nearly five months for haggling over labor rules, subsidies for rural airports and the number of flights at Reagan National Airport. The goal is for a policy that would last as long as four years.
"I'm willing to compromise," Mica says. "But having a 23rd extension would be tough."
His latest proposal posted on the House Rules Committee website would keep most policies the same. It also authorizes $150 million in subsidies for rural airports, which remains a point of contention between the House and Senate.
Senate Democrats, including Mica's counterpart, Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, have defended the program as important to remote communities. Rockefeller had urged Mica to offer a several-month extension so lawmakers could iron out the disputes.
The congressional wrangling hasn't been obvious to airline passengers because air-traffic controllers remained on the job during the shutdown. But a partial shutdown from July 23 through Aug. 5 furloughed 4,000 FAA workers and shuttered 200 construction projects.
Passengers might not have noticed FAA's inability to collect taxes during the shutdown because most airlines kept prices as if the taxes remained.
Congress reinstated the taxes retroactively after the shutdown, so people who bought tickets before July 23 and flew during the shutdown couldn't get refunds. But the Internal Revenue Service also decided not to collect taxes for tickets sold during the shutdown, which lawmakers said was about $400 million.
"The airlines made bank. The IRS didn't collect the money. The airlines didn't make refunds."
Aviation NEWS By
Neha Jain
Aviation NEWS Reporter
1. FAA proposes $1.1 million fine for Southwest maintenance
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $1.1 million fine against a company for alleged maintenance violations involving 44 Southwest Airlines planes.
The fine proposed Monday against Aviation Technical Services of Everett, Wash., was for improperly inspecting and repairing the fuselages on Southwest's Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
But the Southwest jet whose roof was ripped open in April with 118 people aboard wasn't among the planes in the FAA complaint. That plane landed safely in Yuma, Ariz.
The airline holds its contractors to "the highest possible standards" and that Southwest has improved maintenance since the problems alleged in the complaint, which were from December 2006 to September 2009.
John Cox, a former airline pilot who now runs consulting firm Safety Operating Systems, says it sounds like regulators are concerned about the repetitive nature of the problem rather than anything that could have grounded the planes.
"I'd get on a Southwest airplane in the morning and I'd put my family on without a second thought," Cox says. "This says more that the FAA was concerned with the process violations than the safety violations."
FAA fines are typically negotiated with companies as they remedy any violations. The company has 30 days to reply.
The complaint says Aviation Technical Services failed to accomplish five repetitive inspections and a one-time inspection to find and repair cracks in the planes' skins. After the inspections, it allegedly failed to install fasteners in rivet holes in the time specified as sealant dried.
"Aircraft can be operated safely for years if all the maintenance work is performed properly," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in issuing the complaint.
Aviation Technical Services says safety is its foremost goal and it's "confident that our systems and protocols meet or exceed every industry standard for maintenance excellence and safety."
This is the second proposed fine against the company in the past year. The FAA proposed a $530,250 fine in November for improper work to detect skin cracks while maintaining 14 Southwest planes.
2. Mica 'willing to compromise' on FAA bill
Congress will consider this week whether to extend the Federal Aviation Administration until Jan. 31 to give lawmakers more breathing room to settle long-simmering disputes about the agency.
The agency, which has staggered along under 21 temporary extensions since 2007, faces a potential shutdown Friday because of the legislative impasse.
REUTERS: Congress set to avoid US transport shutdowns
But Rep. John Mica, the chairman of the House transportation committee, is sponsoring legislation that would allow nearly five months for haggling over labor rules, subsidies for rural airports and the number of flights at Reagan National Airport. The goal is for a policy that would last as long as four years.
"I'm willing to compromise," Mica says. "But having a 23rd extension would be tough."
His latest proposal posted on the House Rules Committee website would keep most policies the same. It also authorizes $150 million in subsidies for rural airports, which remains a point of contention between the House and Senate.
Senate Democrats, including Mica's counterpart, Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, have defended the program as important to remote communities. Rockefeller had urged Mica to offer a several-month extension so lawmakers could iron out the disputes.
The congressional wrangling hasn't been obvious to airline passengers because air-traffic controllers remained on the job during the shutdown. But a partial shutdown from July 23 through Aug. 5 furloughed 4,000 FAA workers and shuttered 200 construction projects.
Passengers might not have noticed FAA's inability to collect taxes during the shutdown because most airlines kept prices as if the taxes remained.
Congress reinstated the taxes retroactively after the shutdown, so people who bought tickets before July 23 and flew during the shutdown couldn't get refunds. But the Internal Revenue Service also decided not to collect taxes for tickets sold during the shutdown, which lawmakers said was about $400 million.
"The airlines made bank. The IRS didn't collect the money. The airlines didn't make refunds."
Aviation NEWS By
Neha Jain
Aviation NEWS Reporter
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