How safe are the airlines?

The Associated Press

Is it safe?

Featured Topic | Posted 22 weeks 3 days ago

Airplanes might not be falling from the sky, but the airlines are evidently not adhering to federal safety standards. FAA safety inspector Bobby Boutris told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this week that routine surveillance inspections at other Southwest maintenance facilities revealed a systemic problem of noncompliance with federal regulations.

During a daylong hearing, whistle-blowers, aviation safety specialists and government watchdogs criticized the FAA for looking the other way and allowing crucial aircraft inspection and maintenance lapses that could have led to deadly crashes.

For air travelers it means not only has the glamour of flying faded, but the aviation safety net is tattered. Troubling signs have surfaced of a buddy system between the airline industry and the federal agency that is supposed to regulate it, the committee's investigation uncovered.

Is air travel as safe as it should be in the 21st century? Or are the stories of airplanes going uninspected overblown? What can government do, if anything?

Ben likes: Puzzling fines and scrutiny

The Aerospace Agenda

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?

Joel likes: FAA and the airlines

Greg Anrig Jr./TPM Cafe

At the end of this Times story describing how the FAA had continued to let Southwest Airlines fly planes for months after their inspection deadlines had passed, Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition says that FAA officials constantly refer to airlines as "customers." Mitchell correctly concludes that "the culture there is dysfunctional."

The idea that regulatory agencies exist to serve the industries they are supposed to oversee is deeply held by the conservative movement, and has permeated the thinking and actions of the Bush administration. That mindset has exacerbated all kinds of threats to public health, safety, and the environment. But regulatory agencies are supposed to enforce rules.