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SWA Makes emergency landing in Yuma AZ

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BILL LUMBERG said:
LIKE I SAID....SWA Problem....

Lufthansa Advised Southwest on Reducing 737 Maintenance Costs: UNITE HERE Calls for FAA Investigation of Program that Touted Fewer Checks





Press Release Source: UNITE HERE On Thursday April 7, 2011, 7:00 am

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In 2005, Lufthansa Technik helped Southwest Airlines migrate their Boeing 737 maintenance program to a new model that promised to be good for business. In a press release, Lufthansa wrote, “The significant reduction in the number of maintenance tasks results in savings of up to 30 percent on maintenance costs, with less time in the hangar corresponding to extra revenue-earning flying hours.”


After a hole ripped through the cabin of a Southwest Boeing 737-300 flying over Arizona last week, such proclamations ought to cause pause.


While the FAA has ordered a review of the agency’s older plane inspections, the union UNITE HERE today called on the FAA to also review how cost-reduction programs such as those pushed by Lufthansa pose risks to proper execution of existing FAA standards.


Last Friday’s incident is not the first cause for concern from Southwest since the airline instituted the revamped maintenance program with Lufthansa Technik. In 2008, the FAA sought civil penalties against Southwest for “flying planes that were not inspected for cracks.” Nicholas A. Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for aviation safety at the time, said in the Washington Post, "The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew.”


Lufthansa Technik had a long relationship with Southwest, dating at least back to a 2001 project to revamp Southwest’s maintenance management. Lufthansa Technik still listed Southwest as a client as late as 2009
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Scary. App withdrawn. If I wanna fly something with a pop top I'll go down and give rides in the Waco. Pay not quite the same, but at least home every night. :beer: What next?
 
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ivauir said:
Funny how far some will go to slam SWA (to Germany, where next?), when the truth is right here at home:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/apr/06/boeing-urges-more-737-reviews/
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Oh I see....you got all the answers....

The Fix is on.....FAA makes no comment other than "Inspect them"....NTSB says "Happy with the speed and cooperation of SWA".....
and then Boeing chimes in with some retired guy who said...."GEE, we didn't think they were going to fail so early....our bad!!!"

Anybody who doesn't smell out that the pressure was put on Boeing to own up because the largest 737 owner wants a replacement and Boeing (with good business sense) took one for the team to sell more to SWA when an order for anther 737 type plane comes out......take the hit now to keep the customer happy and the heat off of them.

This is rotten until another airline's 737 turns up with the same problems....and don't give me that it's a "different type of flying" at SWA.....cycles are cycles.......
 
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And SWA flies more cycles per hour than anyone.

SWA CASM are bound to increase sharply for two reasons.

1) MX- maybe the TSA will come out and start using their naked body scanners on SWA B737s to give SWA another govt. kick back.

2) User fees- The only reason the new FAA authorization bill doesn't have a user fee funding structure is because of SWA. The new FAA bill is only good for a four year term verse the historical 10 year. In 2015, if Next Gen starts to really need funding user fees per operation will be the center piece.

Between mx and user fees SWA might just get an double digit CASM. The honeymoon is over.
 
Between mx and user fees SWA might just get an double digit CASM. The honeymoon is over.
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Heard that before "must have been outta job - before"... still ticking along 40 years later, about to buy tranny... watch out.
 
Sorry ladies.....SWA is the best, they do everything right.....Can I get a hit off the LUV bong?
 
Passing the LUV bong...
 
We would bill, but you keep ********************ing up the rotation, maannn(!!!)
 
Once again....

Find a retired guy from Boeing.....let them take the hit. Gotta sell jets......737s, 747s and 727s with many more cycles still out flying without losing skin sooooooooo...

SWA walks tall and looks like the responsible party.....(which they did by volunteering to pull jets off line)....which would have happened anyway once the feds wrapped their heads around this one.

Largest fine in history for mx non-compliance? SWA....so draw your own conclusions.
 
You're a relentless hater Bill-
I accept that-

But aren't you trashing Boeing a bit? What's wrong w/ Boeing selling jets? Lets say your theory is right- Maybe if delta didn't do most of their flying with canadair's Brasilia jets and airbii, Boeing wouldn't be under the same pressure....
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/business/18plane.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=boeing southwest 737&st=cse

Southwest checked 78 similar planes in its fleet and found five others that had developed single small cracks in various spots at just over 40,000 flights.

Boeing said on Sunday that inspections on several dozen other planes, mostly owned by foreign carriers, had not found any cracks. It said it was premature to say whether the cracks on the other Southwest jets were related to the problems that caused the hole on the April 1 flight.
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