Southwest Airlines failed to perform mandatory rudder inspections on more than 125 jets, or roughly one-fifth of its fleet, forcing it to scramble late Tuesday to negotiate an unusual arrangement with federal regulators to keep the planes flying until the checks were completed.
The drama began Tuesday afternoon, when the carrier informed the FAA that certain hydraulic inspections were missed on 128 of the company’s Boeing 737-700 models, which were voluntarily taken out of service right away. Some 80 flights were canceled on Tuesday as a result.
Officials from Southwest, the Federal Aviation Administration and plane maker Boeing Co. then hunkered down to work out a plan to get the checks completed as quickly as possible, with the aim of returning the planes to service in the interim. Around 1 a.m. Wednesday Eastern time, Southwest said the FAA approved “a proposal that would allow the planes to keep flying for a maximum of five days” while inspections are done. An FAA spokesman confirmed the arrangement.
Southwest flies more than 3,400 flights a day, meaning that taking out a fifth of its fleet could result in hundreds of cancellations nationwide. The company’s updated statement anticipated “very minimal impact” on Wednesday’s operations.
Reflecting the fluid nature of the situation, the FAA released its own statement about two hours earlier confirming that the carrier had “missed some required inspections on the standby rudder system” on 128 aircraft. The statement added that FAA officials, working with representatives of the airline and manufacturer Boeing Co., were still evaluating a proposal “that would allow the airline to continue flying the planes until the inspections are completed over the next few days.”
The Dallas-based carrier is the world’s largest operator of Boeing 737 jets and relies entirely on the single-aisle workhorse for its fleet. According to Boeing’s website, the company has taken delivery of 941 737 jets directly from the plane maker since 1971 and has a further 273 still on order as of Jan. 31.
Though the inspection slipup already has turned into an embarrassing irritant for the Southwest, it isn’t expected to have the longer-term negative impact of a 2008 dispute with the FAA and lawmakers over maintenance lapses.
Congressional hearings created a tumult that buffeted the industry after it was disclosed that local FAA officials permitted the carrier to fly 46 aircraft without completing mandatory structural inspections. In another case a year later, the FAA allowed Southwest to continue flying roughly 50 jets that were equipped with unauthorized parts while it worked to replace those parts, after the agency concluded they didn’t pose an immediate safety hazard.
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