An aviation hazard

Federal Aviation Administration officials overlooked Southwest Airlines’ safety violations and tried to protect the company, according to two agency inspectors.

The inspectors, who have since become whistleblowers, said FAA officials tried to intimidate them to stop an investigation into Southwest’s safety practices and alleged that the company was given sensitive FAA data.

USA Today reported Monday that the special counsel’s office, which handles whistleblower complaints, found a “substantial likelihood” that the complaints are true.

Whistleblowers C. Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters say agency managers were too close to the airline and point to a former FAA manager who went to work for Southwest and remained friendly with many agency inspectors.

In a memo to Congress last year, Boutris said the agency started to get serious about safety issues at Southwest only after congressional investigators started looking into the matter.

The FAA admits it did not handle the Southwest situation properly. Two managers in the FAA’s Dallas office, which has oversight of Southwest’s headquarters, have since been reassigned. And last week the FAA fined Southwest $10.2 million for safety violations, singling out the fact that the airline continued to let 38 jets fly even though company officials knew they had not been inspected, as required, for cracks in the fuselage.

Southwest said safety in this case was never compromised, even though six jets were found to have fuselage cracks. In its defense, the company noted that it reported its failure last year.

The FAA should have caught the maintenance problem, but agency critics, including the union that represents the agency’s inspectors, say the FAA has a shortage of inspectors and an attitude that coddles the airlines. For example, the FAA has adopted a “partnership” program, under which airlines take on a greater role in policing themselves.

Such ludicrous policies serve only to allow companies to cut corners, and that is not acceptable when it comes to passenger safety. The FAA should rescind the policy immediately.