Whistleblowers speak out on Southwest issue

An inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration Douglas Peters testified recently about the threats leveled against him and his family when it became a possibility that he would go public with information about the FAA and its handling of national airlines that it is supposed to be regulating. The two whistleblowers, Peters and Charlambe Boutris testify that the FAA saw the airlines more as customers to be courted than bodies to inflict discipline.

The news comes after an unprecedented audit and fine against Southwest Airlines last month, that saw the carrier charged over $10 million for skipping mandatory maintenance checks. Southwest was the scapegoat in what the FAA hoped would be show of discipline, but the whistleblowers exposed the real problem, which was that the FAA wasn’t doing its job first.

A transportation department inspector said that he also had observed that the relationship between Southwest and the FAA has become far too ‘collaborative’. The investigation is ongoing.