The Federal Aviation Agency want to Ground 38 Southwest Airlines

 FAA recently considered grounding 38 Southwest Airlines

The Federal Aviation Agency recently considered grounding 38 Southwest Airlines jets due to missing maintenance documentation, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Without the full paperwork, the Federal Aviation Agency couldn't verify that the planes met federal safety necessities.

The missing documentation applies to some planes that Southwest bought used from foreign airlines. The airline said it considers the issue} a work problem, not a safety risk. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more stories like this in your inbox.

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The Federal Aviation Agency recently thought of grounding over 3 dozen Southwest Airlines jets, once the airline failed to provide documentation confirming that the jets meet safety standards, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The issue stems from used aircraft that Southwest has purchased over several years from foreign airlines. The previous homeowners didn't keep reliable maintenance records. Consequently, Southwest and regulators, unable to establish an accurate history of minor repairs, fixes, and inspections, cannot definitively confirm that the planes meet all safety necessities.

Southwest has faced increased scrutiny from Congressional investigators and the Federal Aviation Agency for months, following a range of whistleblower complaints related to maintenance and safety. the most recent issue arose over the past many weeks, after Southwest informed the Federal Aviation Agency that it previously found dozens of "problematic" repairs on planes, done by previous house owners.

Those findings, combined with the inadequate documentation, has raised concerns among regulators. though the airline believed it had backup records, it later found that it was missing numerous important documents and that some work was incomplete, The Journal said.

Southwest acquired 88 used Boeing 737 metric weight unit planes between 2013 and 2017, part of its fleet of more than 750 Boeing 737 jets.

Of those 88, 41 have been fully inspected to verify paperwork and another 9 are undergoing inspections. The remaining 38 planes, that are the ones lacking complete documentation, have drawn scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Agency, the Department of Transportation's officer, and Congress.

The Federal Aviation Agency threatened to ground those 38 planes in late October, according to The Journal, "if the agency's considerations weren't adequately addressed." In 2018, the regulator briefly grounded 32 of the airline's planes following audits of maintenance records.

The airline told the Federal Aviation Agency that it considers the issue} a paperwork problem, rather than maintenance and safety risk, because each of the planes had undergone extensive regular maintenance over the years since joining Southwest's fleet. The agency agreed to let the planes continue flying following discussions with Southwest officers, and conditional upon the airline accelerating required inspections to bring work into compliance by January.

Southwest also owns 34 Boeing 737 max jets, which are grounded through March. A grounding of additional planes would place a big strain on the airline's operations.

In June, the Federal Aviation Agency reassigned 3 managers in its office overseeing Southwest, amid numerous considerations.

Source: Pulse ng