Southwest Pays $7.5 Million for Safety Violations

After months of wrangling to get the amount reduced, Southwest Airlines has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle safety violation charges brought the Federal Aviation Authority, which is $2.7 million less than originally ordered. Under the terms of the agreement Southwest has 2 years to pay the fines in 3 instalments.

The fines were brought for safety violations concerning the use of 46 aircraft for 59,791 fllights that were done without the mandatory safety inspections being performed. It is estimated the planes carried 145,000 passengers.

MARCH-02-09: FAA fines Southwest for safety violations[MSNBC: FAA FINES SOUTHWEST $7.5 MILLION]