Late last week, the FAA slapped Southwest Airlines with a Letter of Penalty and a $10.2 Million fine for allegedly violating an airworthiness directive. The FAA says that Southwest flew 46 aircraft on 1,451 flights before accomplishing a mandatory inspection.

Southwest responded with several strong statements. The first one refutes the FAA's claims and suggests that the oversight the FAA cited was minor and not a safety threat. Southwest emphasizes that they were the ones to bring the issue (and notice of its resolution) to the FAA, and that they consulted with Boeing to be sure it was not a safety of flight concern. Southwest's second statement was a comment on their commitment to a "strong safety culture." Finally, a third statement was made by Gregory Feith, a very experienced NTSB investigator, who said that Southwest did everything right.

Avweb.com reports that Boeing released a statement supporting Southwest.

Southwest has the opportunity to fight the penalties and it looks like they have a strong case. If there is a single airline in the world doing things right, it seems like Southwest is the one. It will be interesting to see how this conflict ends.

You would think that's the end of the story, except that Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) is using this incident to spark controversy over the FAA's relationship with commercial airlines. The Associated Press reports that he has gone so far as to suggest that the "FAA needs to clean house from top to bottom" because the airlines have too much influence on the organization and its employees.

Though it seems ironic to base these accusations on an incident where the FAA fined an airline for $10.2 Million, I think he has a point. It is not possible that any responsible government agency, such as the FAA, would support user fees that fund an airliner-focused ATC upgrade by strangling general aviation unless that agency was being inappropriately influenced by the airlines.

Could this be a catalyst that motivates our legislators take a good look and realize where the user fee proposals are coming from? Or, is this just a bunch of hype based on a congressman's need to look busy? Let us know what you think!