Southwest Airlines Falls After Reports Of Poor Safety Practices

Southwest Airlines co. is on the receiving end of a scathing government report accusing the airliner of ignoring safety regulations, according to The Wall Street Journal‘s review of a Transportation Department report.

According to the report which could be released in the coming days, Southwest flew 17 million passengers on planes with unconfirmed maintenance records. In one particular instance, pilots damaged the two wingtips of a plane when trying to land in gale-force winds.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration was also blasted in the report, and for good reason. The FAA’s oversight of American airliners appears to be lax, ineffective and inconsistent, according to the Journal. The report also states the FAA’s actions of turning a blind eye to blatant safety incidents served to “justify continued noncompliance with safety regulations.”

Widespread Issues

FAA managers who were tasked with supervising Southwest’s safety profile consistently allowed the company to “fly aircraft with unresolved safety concerns.” At the same time, nearly two-thirds of 46 FAA employees who were interviewed for the report had “raised concerns” about Southwest’s lack of safety.

“It is clear that the Agency is not yet effectively navigating the balance between industry collaboration and managing safety risks at the carrier,” according to the report.

Southwest Responds

Southwest responded to WSJ in a statement and said it can’t agree with the report’s “unsubstantiated references” to a lack of safety. Many specific issues raised by the report are matters of opinion, such as how to document the weight of a plane prior to takeoff. These issues aren’t in any shape or form safety-related.

Allied Pilots Association: ‘Concerning’ Report

Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” segment Thursday morning the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of Southwest is “concerning.” At the heart of the report are problems with oversight and culture.

Nevertheless, all pilots share a consistent internal safety culture among themselves which doesn’t vary from airliner to airline. Specifically, all pilots believe there is no such thing as varying degrees of safety. Either a plane is safe to fly or it isn’t. In addition, there are no classifications of one plane being safer than another — as Boeing CEO David Calhoun recently suggested to be the case with its 737 Max.

Finally, whenever there is “dark news” which impacts the airline industry, it can serve as a learning experience, he said. Systemic issues like these can “occur at every airline.”