Says Base Was Not Built To Handle Weight Of Jets

Some allegedly shoddy workmanship has drawn fire from Southwest Airlines... which has filed suit against the paving company that laid down the aircraft apron at MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, NY.

The Dallas, TX-based low cost carrier claims Pav-Co failed to properly shore up the apron to prevent cracking... and when those cracks started to appear, neglected to repair them.

"We know it's not an emergency," said Southwest chief counsel Cindy Buhr. "But we also know that whatever it is, we're going to want it fixed."

The airline filed suit in US District Court on Monday.

An attorney for Pav-Co declined comment to Newsday... but Raymond Perini, who is representing one of the paving company's owners on federal charges for fraud and bid-rigging, maintains the apron was built properly.

Cracking in asphalt can cause chunks of the paving material to break free... which could then get drawn into an airliner's turbofan engines. The apron was part of an $82 million project, funded by Southwest, to add eight gates to the Islip-area airport. The apron is just two years old.

Islip Town officials met this week with a firm hired to examine the sub-base of the apron, which some believe was not built thick enough to handle the weight of a fully-loaded 737. The city declined to comment on the results of that testing... but Perini maintains the test showed the sub-base was built properly.

"I've been advised by the town attorney that their initial findings are that the entire sub-base is there, all nine inches," said Perini. That's not the problem."

Meanwhile... no one involved in the case had any comment on when the apron might be repaired. So, if you're boarding a Southwest flight in New York... you may want to step lightly.

FMI: www.southwest.com, www.macarthurairport.com