Class Action Suit Could Grow

The first lawsuit has surfaced following news Southwest Airlines failed to comply with necessary safety inspections... and it's a doozy.

Four Alabama passengers filed suit against the Dallas-based low-cost carrier last Friday, saying the company broke its agreement with travelers over a six-year period by transporting them on planes that had not been checked per federal guidelines.

The passengers are taking the airline to court based on language in Southwest's own "Contract of Carriage," reports The Associated Press. That statement reads, "All transportation is sold and all carriage is performed subject to compliance with all applicable laws and governmental regulations, including those of the US Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Transportation Security Administration, many of which are not specified herein but are nonetheless binding on Carrier and all passengers."

Those flyers, represented by Birmingham attorney Lew Garrison, say revelations earlier this year Southwest failed to comply with FAA-mandated inspections of rudder assemblies, and fuselage fatigue checks, on its older 737 Classic models prove the airline didn't hold up its end of that bargain.

"Fortuitously, of course, nothing happened, everyone arrived safely at their destinations," Garrison said. "But that doesn't change the fact that Southwest did not comply with its obligations."

Garrison said the class-action suit primarily asks for reimbursement for tickets on flights in that period... adding hundreds of thousands of people who traveled on Southwest aircraft from January 2002 through March 2008 could ultimately join the lawsuit. The group also seeks punitive damages, saying Southwest behaved negligently in not grounding aircraft that had not been inspected.

As ANN reported, federal regulators said in March the low-cost airline flew almost 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 on 46 aircraft that had missed inspections -- and continued flying another 1,451 flights in March 2007, even after the carrier realized what it said was an honest mistake. Southwest maintains FAA inspectors tasked with overseeing the airline's maintenance practices gave their OK for the airline to continue flying.

A spokesperson for Southwest said the airline does not comment on pending litigation.

FMI: www.southwest.com