Projo Biz Blog

Southwest Airlines, the dominant carrier at T.F. Green Airport, was recently fined $10.2 million for failing to properly conduct safety inspections on its planes.

WARWICK - The maintenance concerns at Southwest Airlines have not caused any delays at T.F. Green Airport, spokeswoman Patti Goldstein says.

Yesterday, Southwest grounded 43 planes to examine if they were structurally sound enough to carry passengers, the Associated Press reported today. The inspections followed criticism from the Federal Aviation Administration that the airline had missed required inspections of some planes for cracks.

Southwest, the dominant carrier in Rhode Island, had cancelled 118 flights nationwide by midday yesterday, about 9 percent of its scheduled flights.

"It didn't impact us at all. We were pleased with that," Goldstein said. "It's an airline with a very good safety record. They addressed the problem."

---