As I sort of predicted, US Airways today announced that they will retire all 737-300’s by the end of 2012 and all 737-400’s by 2014.
Did anyone notice the seat # this hole opened up over?
http://www.baynews9.com/static/articles/images/news2011/southwest-plane-hole-0403.jpg
Well, if you sit in row 13 on April 1st what do you expect ?
From Wall Street Journal
Article states that Southwest’s grounding of aircraft was unusual in the airline industry. Typically, airlines wait for regulatory/manufacturer recommendations before grounding aircraft.
…Southwest’s decision to cancel hundreds of flights and delay thousands of others to conduct inspections could set a new model for such events in the industry…
In successfully navigating the crisis, Southwest may have charted a new course for how airlines could deal with complex safety hazards in coming years, the safety experts say.