The major news organizations broke the story  yesterday that low fare carrier Southwest Airlines could be fined up to $10 million for not complying with mandatory Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspections on some of their Boeing 737 series of aircraft. The inspections centered on fuselage fatigue cracks and rudder actuators. While the major media was using the fear tactic again to play up the story, I have to think that this whole event is being blown out of proportion. I've flown on a lot of different airlines over the years, and I have to say that all things considered, as an engineer and a pilot, I've been most impressed with the operations of Southwest Airlines.  It just doesn't make sense that Southwest would knowingly violate a safety inspection just to cut corners to save money or meet schedule demands. Southwest is the only U.S. airline that has consistently made a profit, year in and year out, since they started flying over 30 years ago. And it's not because they are taking safety or maintenance shortcuts. From what I've personally witnessed, and read, they run an efficient, safe operation. (There has never been a fatal crash of a Southwest flight. Pretty amazing when you realize they have been flying for over 3 decades and that they carry more passengers per year than any other carrier in the world. They must be doing something right with their maintenance and aircrew training programs.) They treat their employees well, and I've seen this in the positive attitude I've experienced throughout their organization, from flight attendants, to gate agents, to baggage handlers, reservationists and pilots. To me, an organization with such a positive attitude doesn't need to be sneaky with their safety program. Disgruntled employees are more likely to not take their job seriously, or be willing to cut corners, or even blow the whistle on their employer, none of which I've seen with Southwest. I really believe a happy airline work force takes pride in all aspects of their operation, and most importantly, safety. Also, from what I've seen of the planes I've flown on, they look like they are well maintained. I once watched a Southwest airlines maintenance crew change the tires on a front landing gear of a 737 while waiting to get on that airplane. I watched the whole procedure from inside the terminal, and to me it looked like they were following maintenance and quality checklists, with a second person checking the work of the guy changing the tires.  Yeah, yeah, I know, a tire may not be as critical as a fuselage crack, but you have to think if they are taking the time to make things right with just a tire, then they are probably paying even more attention to the really important safety items.

Another fact to consider is Southwest only flies 737 series aircraft, and this is the only aircraft type they have flown in over 30 years of operations. I think it's safe to say that Southwest has more experience flying and maintaining the 737 than any other airline in the world, and if they thought that a 737 wasn't safe, they wouldn't let it fly. Why would they jeopardize their good reputation by compromising safety? They already make a profit. I'm thinking this has to be some type of paperwork or FAA oversight issue going on here, not a real safety issue. In fact, it looks like an FAA supervisor has already been demoted for improper oversight of the Southwest 737 inspection program.  Also, Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737, even signed off  on the Southwest compliance program and said the planes were safe to fly. Who knows the 737 airliner better than the company that designed and built it? (For some background, the accident that prompted these mandatory fuselage crack inspections was with an Aloha Airlines 737  and occurred almost 20 years ago. I'm sure that in those 20 years, all 737s have been inspected for that type of fatigue crack at least once, if not on a recurring schedule.)  Meanwhile, I think the mainstream media is playing to the publics fears again, making it sound as if airliners would fall out of the skies because of bad maintenance. Bottom line for me: I would not hesitate to board a Southwest 737 today. (And no, I do not own Southwest stock, have never worked for Southwest, and do not have any friends of relatives who work for Southwest). Let's quit the fear-mongering folks, and wait to hear all the facts so we can come to a rational conclusion on how this inspection program should have been conducted.