After several questionable close calls, Southwest Airlines and the US Federal Aviation Administration are “partnering” to perform a safety audit.
FAA Launches Joint Safety Audit With Southwest Airlines, Unions
Numerous recent close calls have called Southwest’s safety record into question. As a result of these incidents, the Wall Street Journal’s Alison Sider reports a trifecta of the airline, employee unions, and FAA will jointly take a closer look at safety. Southwest Airlines explains:
“This group is tasked with performing an in-depth, data-driven analysis to identify any opportunities for improvement. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
The union representing Southwest pilots told its members that the scrutiny would be comprehensive:
“Expect increased scrutiny on ground events and safety, training on abnormals, turbulence safety, and aircraft maintenance.”
The audit is officially open-ended but is expected to take three months and comes after the latest incident when pilots seemed oblivious to be only 150 feet above ground more than four miles from Tampa Airport (TPA). Even if faulty altitude readings meant they were slightly higher, they still approached TPA far too low and only reversed course once alerted by Air Traffic Control (and then, conveniently perhaps, diverted to Fort Lauderdale such that the black box was overwritten).
New Pilots To Blame?
Even before the FAA announced its audit, Lee Kinnebrew, Southwest’s Vice President of Flight Operations, circulated a memo touching on the relative inexperience of pilots compared to historic norms:
“We have more Captains and First Officers in new seats than ever before. We’re adapting to an increasingly complex network with new tools and systems.”
And that is a concern. Seniority matters and while “senior” pilots are not immune to making mistakes, years of expertise on a specific plane type matter. All of this may be a (hopefully temporary) “learning curve” though piloting is a profession that has no room for critical error.
And for those quick to try to blame this on DEI initiatives (diversity, equity, and inclusion), I say show me the proof. Speaking in general, it’s true that DEI programs may lead to more black, brown, and female pilot candidates (a different discussion). But until you show me proof otherwise, those pilots are subject to the same strict training requirements as anyone else. In short, the training is colorblind and there is no way an incompetent pilot would be allowed to pilot a $100+ million aircraft because of her gender or skin color.
CONCLUSION
Southwest Airlines faces an FAA safety audit after a string of recent questionable in-flight incidents. The audit is expected to last three months and be coordinated closely with the airline and union. As for whether the recent events are coincidental or reveal a deeper problem at Southwest, I am hopeful that the audit will help to resolve this.
image: CAA
Over-reliance on computers and AI are a huge problem .
Unfortunately , Pete tinkerer at the FAA likes tinkering tech .
Interesting take on the Black Box with the recent TPA issue. Who do you think was responsible for this call? Potentially makes this a much bigger story if this is the case.
It’s just a theory…but it’s a very odd case.
When a motorist can’t stay within the lines on the pavement, the cop who pulls them over is not “partnering” with them. The FAA partnered with Boeing and it didn’t build much confidence; now maybe it should consider actually investigating and enforcing. Saying they’re partnering with the airline they are supposed to regulate sounds like an announcement of regulatory capture.
Agreed.
If congress refuses to give you money to high people who understand the new technologies then you need to be become creative.