What’s Up at the FAA?

April 3, 2008

What’s Up at the FAA?

So we’ve been hearing a lot this past week about problems with Southwest Airlines and their planes going without inspection for several years (and actually flying with problems that should have been caught by inspection and fixed!) (read this story and this story on CNN.com) - triple shame on Southwest for putting our safety - our very lives - at risk! What is it they say when you land at your destination…..”we know you have a choice when flying and we thank you for choosing Southwest Airlines”……. How about we all stop choosing them for a while? Really, think about it…. I know that most people choose what airline to fly on based on price, and yes, they do have good prices. But what is your life worth? An extra $25? $50? $100? I’ll pay a bit more to fly on another airline to send them a message - I’m not happy that they would put their profits ahead of keeping me safe.

But really this post is about the FAA. What is UP there? They are funded by US - the taxpayers! They do NOT work for the airlines - they work for us! So how DARE they allow this to happen? Why does it take whistle blowers to make us aware that we were even at risk? Heads should roll at the FAA over this, and rightly so. Upper management - the top dogs over there - should be held accountable, but also any person - from the top right down to the file clerks - who are found to have had knowledge of what happened should also be held accountable. Everyone. Personally I think they should be executed, but I realize that’s a bit harsh. Jail terms would probably suffice. Every single person who works at the FAA should get the message that we won’t accept anything less than their complete and total commitment to keeping air travel safe for all of us.

So HOW do we do this? Here are some great resources for letting our elected representatives know how we feel (I’m going to turn this into a static page from the menu as well):