May 7, 2008 9:12 pm US/Central
New Alleged Conflict Of Interest Between SWA, FAA
Investigation Began After SWA Planes Aren't Grounded For Safety Checks
Reporting
Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Congress is now looking into new allegations of a conflict of interest between Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.
It comes after an inspector allowed the airline to fly dozens of planes instead of grounding them for safety checks.
Under an agreement signed by the FAA's former regional manager six years ago, Southwest Airlines has provided training - at its own expense - for the FAA's local operations inspectors and their supervisors.
They're the same inspectors who review the airline's operation and training manuals and safety record.
Robert Naccache, a former manager at the FAA's office overseeing Southwest Airlines, said the airline's captains train the agency's inspectors on the type of aircraft they fly, the Boeing 737.
"This is a conflict of interest because when they go back to the office, they have to regulate those captains," Naccache said.
Naccache raised questions about the agreement at congressional hearings last month.
"I believe this improper approval was a blatant abuse of authority by higher management," he said.
The FAA's own rules state only that an APM inspector or his representative can be trained at the airline's expense.
Naccache said the FAA normally pays for its inspectors and managers to be trained and to keep them current.
But in this case, Naccache said Southwest paid to train and retrain all operations inspectors, even the supervisory principal inspector who was later assigned as FAA's manager over Southwest.
Experts estimate the value of initial training for an aircraft type costs about $15,000 per person.
The Department of Transportation's Inspector General also voiced concern. "It's a troubling process if only for the perception that Southwest is acquiring influence through FAA," he said.
Under questioning last month, the FAA's former regional director who signed the agreement, Thomas Stuckey, acknowledged the concerns.
"The issue that was raised to me, was why would the principal operations inspector, the supervisory operations inspector get that same training? That's not consistent with FAA policy," Stuckey said.
Naccache said he requested the agreement be changed. "As a regional manager, he should have rescinded - cancelled this agreement," he said.
The FAA said Wednesday it has now cancelled the agreement with Southwest and is developing a new one consistent with policy.
A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman said while inspectors do sit among the airline's pilots, there is no additional cost to Southwest.
But the FAA is investigating why the agreement was signed in the first place.
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