Federal investigators said Wednesday that Dallas-based Southwest Airlines stonewalled FAA investigations and pushed to close inquiries quickly even though it and union officials resisted handing over information.
The report released Wednesday raises serious concerns about the relationship between the FAA and Southwest Airlines, which has been the subject of past investigations into the purchase of foreign airplanes and drew scrutiny for its involvement in Boeing’s development of the 737 Max aircraft.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel sent the report to President Joe Biden’s desk Tuesday, the agency said, citing four whistleblowers who say the FAA “knowingly permitted SWA to engage in unsafe and improper actions that compromised the safety of the flying public.”
The report points widespread blame for how the FAA handles complaints and investigations into Southwest, including how mechanics are assigned work and investigations into pilot safety lapses and the relationship between Southwest executives and FAA officials.
The FAA and Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Office of Special Counsel report.
In the report, investigators also accuse FAA of failing to oversee Southwest’s “pattern of assigning mechanics more work than can be reasonably completed and then pressuring them to sign off on work that was not completed or completed by someone else.”
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