FAA Wants to Slam Southwest With Huge Fine

The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a hefty fine against Southwest Airlines after an investigation concluded the carrier had faulty weight and balance information.

The agency wants to bang the Dallas-based airline with a $3.92 million fine after concluding that Southwest operated 44 planes that flew more than 21,000 flights between May 1 and Aug. 9, 2018, with incorrect baseline weights, according to USA Today.

Starting weights are important so that airlines can determine everything from how much fuel to load the plane with and how luggage and cargo are placed.

Southwest has 30 days to respond to the FAA but it is allowed to negotiate a fine amount more advantageous to the airline.

Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish told USA Today that the proposed penalty stems from data processing issues that occurred when Southwest was switching computer systems in the spring of 2018.

Southwest apparently self-reported ‘record-keeping issues’ to the FAA in July of 2018 and resolved them in August 2018.

Southwest now scans bags, as virtually every other airline does, instead of its former policy of manually counting bags.