Southwest Airlines Co., under fire for missing required aircraft inspections, has dropped a plan to move some maintenance operations outside the U.S., a union official said Friday.
The carrier ended talks with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association to shift some work to El Salvador, said Louie Key, the union’s assistant national director. On March 6, Southwest was fined $10.2 million for possible maintenance violations.
What they said: “They didn’t want to expose themselves to any questions or concerns about foreign maintenance vendors,” Key said. A spokeswoman for Southwest couldn’t confirm that discussions had broken off.
“Southwest knows that this issue is gaining visibility and gaining momentum,” said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. “They probably wanted to avoid further scrutiny.”
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Page compiled from Tribune staff, wire reports
