Is Southwest Airlines safe to fly? (credit, construction, costs)

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

"Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., said an FAA safety order to be issued Tuesday is an acknowledgment that previous inspection procedures were inadequate. "There is no question this was a very serious safety event," Voss said.

That the skin peeled away shouldn't come as a surprise, said Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aeronautical engineering at St. Louis University.

Czysz said fuselages are designed with a specific stress limit, based on the number of cycles a plane flies. When a fatigue crack emerges, he said, that means the limit is being pushed. The trick is to keep up a rigorous inspection program.

"It's not magic," he said. "It's just basic physics."

FAA Prepares Emergency Safety Order for Some Boeing 737s

This certainly has me concerned. From the aolnews article: "Southwest officials said the Arizona flight was given a routine inspection on Tuesday and underwent its last so-called heavy check, a more costly and extensive overhaul, in March 2010"....."In its inspections, Southwest found two jets had small, subsurface cracks similar to the breached plane. Sumwalt said a third was also found with the problem"

These are obviously very serious problems. I have flown Southwest almost exclusively for the past 20 years and have always been very satisfied with their on time record, customer service, and fares. However, until Southwest actually fixes these stress fracture problems on their 737 fleet, not just inspect the planes for new cracks, but address the underlying causes and fix them, I will not be flying on Southwest. If that means that Southwest needs to replace their entire aging 737 fleet, so be it.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by TT Dave

This certainly has me concerned. From the aolnews article: "Southwest officials said the Arizona flight was given a routine inspection on Tuesday and underwent its last so-called heavy check, a more costly and extensive overhaul, in March 2010"....."In its inspections, Southwest found two jets had small, subsurface cracks similar to the breached plane. Sumwalt said a third was also found with the problem"

These are obviously very serious problems. I have flown Southwest almost exclusively for the past 20 years and have always been very satisfied with their on time record, customer service, and fares. However, until Southwest actually fixes these stress fracture problems on their 737 fleet, not just inspect the planes for new cracks, but address the underlying causes and fix them, I will not be flying on Southwest. If that means that Southwest needs to replace their entire aging 737 fleet, so be it.

For most of these planes, there is nothing to fix. If there the metal is not fatigued, this won't happen. It begins with inspections. If the planes pass NEW and more rigorous inspections, then they are good to go. If they fail, the planes must be repaired.

The only real difference with Southwest is that they have more short flights. So their planes tend to have more landings and takeoffs per hour of flight. Boeing should be a significant party to this exercise. They made the planes, and should be revising their procedures.

I am glad this happened - without any casualties of course. Now they know a potential problem lurks and it will get the attention it deserves.

[Cowboybootnut]

I haven't flown in five years, don't plan to, and don't want to. But that doesn't have anything to do with this.

I would not hesitate to fly Southwest, or any airline. I think their safety is about equal. Yes, they may be cheaper than others, but that doesn't mean they have cut corners on safety. They are a very efficient airline.

[AZ_Desert]

When I did fly, it was with Southwest. It's very disturbing knowing that these were prolonged. That the damages were not fixed properly the first time around. I don't fly anymore but even if I do I'll probably use another airline. But then again, who knows if the same thing will happen with another airline. Down the road maybe we will find out. Hopefully not though.

[JH6]

You have better odds winning the lottery than being killed on any airliner in the United States. I fly Southwest almost exclusively. Their airplanes get quite a workout, and they will correct the problem. I hope that this negative press turns into lower fares on Southwest, but I doubt it will.

I fly southwest because they are no nonsense. You get what you pay for and no surprises or hassles. I was on a Southwest flight into Tampa that made an emergency landing in Fort Myers due to weather. The pilots are true professionals, even on this discount airline.

[bluescreen73]

Southwest is likely the only major air carrier to have gone almost 40 years without a mass-casualty aviation incident.

In fact Southwest has only had 1 incident-related fatality during their run. A 6-year-old boy was killed in 2005 when a Southwest flight skidded off an icy runway at Midway Airport in Chicago and struck the car he was riding in.

United, American, Delta, US Air, Continental, and Northwest have all had major disasters in that time period resulting in countless numbers of fatalities.

This process of events always happens in the travel industry. An incident occurs that sparks heavy scrutiny. That scrutiny usually leads to investigations which lead to the discovery of additional problems which then leads to more stringent safety regulations.

Safety overhauls are almost always reactionary...it happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent it from happening again?

Here's some perspective for you - we have not had a jumbo-jet crash in the US in a little over 9 years. That's statistically an eternity. The last wide-body to go down was American Flight 587. It crashed into a Queens, NY, neighborhood on November 12, 2001, shortly after takeoff from JFK. That crash was caused by pilot error.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Southwest is likely the only major air carrier to have gone almost 40 years without a mass-casualty aviation incident.

In fact Southwest has only had 1 incident-related fatality during their run. A 6-year-old boy was killed in 2005 when a Southwest flight skidded off an icy runway at Midway Airport in Chicago and struck the car he was riding in.

United, American, Delta, US Air, Continental, and Northwest have all had major disasters in that time period resulting in countless numbers of fatalities.

This process of events always happens in the travel industry. An incident occurs that sparks heavy scrutiny. That scrutiny usually leads to investigations which lead to the discovery of additional problems which then leads to more stringent safety regulations.

Safety overhauls are almost always reactionary...it happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent it from happening again?

Here's some perspective for you - we have not had a jumbo-jet crash in the US in a little over 9 years. That's statistically an eternity. The last wide-body to go down was American Flight 587. It crashed into a Queens, NY, neighborhood on November 12, 2001, shortly after takeoff from JFK. That crash was caused by pilot error.

I agree 100%.

Now if Jay Leno will just lay off of them...

[BigDGeek]

I don't fly at all (phobia) but I wouldn't feel any more or less safe flying Southwest than I would any other airline. I think they all take shortcuts with safety and I do think Southwest's standards have slipped in recent years.

[plwhit]

Will continue to fly them with complete confidence.

[EasilyAmused]

I heard too many stories from friends that are pilots about SW. I haven't flown them in over 20 years.