In July 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stepped up oversight of Southwest Airlines, after the airline had a series of close calls, mostly involving pilot error. Since then, the FAA has been auditing the airline to figure out if there are any areas for improvement, and the results are in…
FAA identifies no safety issues at Southwest
Last week, the FAA put out a statement regarding its Southwest safety audit, indicating that it has “finished its Certificate Holder Evaluation Program (CHEP) of Southwest Airlines,” and that “the review did not identify any significant safety issues.”
In response to this, Southwest issued a statement that it “appreciates the opportunity to engage with the FAA as part of our mutual dedication to safety,” and that “nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”
I suppose that’s positive, in the sense that the carrier’s protocols are in line with what they should be. But in some way it’s almost more concerning, when you consider the frequency of issues we’ve seen at the airline (as I recently covered), and that nothing is wrong.
Southwest is one of two major US airlines to be under increased scrutiny from the FAA in recent times. In March 2024, the FAA similarly audited United (more related to maintenance than piloting), and also found nothing wrong.
Why was Southwest being audited by the FAA?
Southwest is a massive airline that carries more passengers than any other US airline. The carrier historically had a great safety record, so why was the airline suddenly under increased scrutiny from regulators?
Well, it came after a shocking number of close calls at the Dallas-based carrier. Just in the months leading up to the investigation being opened, we saw a scary go around in Hawaii, a dangerously low approach in Oklahoma City, an inflight Dutch roll, taking off from a closed runway, and a dangerously low approach in Tampa. And those are just several of the incidents that have been reported and have been made public, so who knows how many other incidents are out there.
With the FAA not having found anything wrong, one certainly has to wonder what conclusion we should draw from the number of incidents at Southwest?
- Is the number of close calls at Southwest just normal, but with the public increasingly listening to ATC audio and tracking flight movements, it’s just getting more publicity?
- Is this just what happens when the average seniority in the cockpit is way down due to the pandemic, and you’re an airline as big as Southwest?
- Were the number of incidents just a really unlucky coincidence, and there’s nothing more to it?
Bottom line
The FAA has concluded its safety audit of Southwest, and has found no major points of concern. The investigation was started after the airline had a series of close calls, mostly involving pilot error either on takeoff or approach. While pilots are only human and make mistakes, the number of issues we saw really was a head-scratcher.
What do you make of the FAA concluding its Southwest safety audit?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.