"We apologized to the FAA. We acknowledged we can do
better."
Source: Ron Ricks, executive vice president for
law, airports and public affairs at Southwest Airlines. When news
first surfaced last week of Southwest Airlines' failure to comply
with mandatory safety inspections on dozens of its jets in 2007,
the Dallas-based low-cost carrier adopted a measured, though
defiant, tone in its statements to the press. The airline insisted
it received permission from the FAA and Boeing to keep the planes
flying, even as the deadline passed for surface fatigue tests...
and pointedly noted the airline has an enviable safety record. Over
the past three days, however, Southwest has changed its colors
somewhat.