Southwest suspends a vendor over parts usage

Southwest Airlines Co., the largest low-fare carrier, has suspended a maintenance vendor linked to the use of unauthorized parts in 82 Boeing 737 aircraft.

The airline already replaced the parts - hinge and actuator brackets - on 30 planes and is working with "all available vendors and resources" to make enough new pieces, Beth Harbin, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest, said yesterday.

The problem was discovered Aug. 21, after an FAA inspector monitoring work at a Southwest maintenance subcontractor found irregularities in paperwork for some parts. The inspector determined the subcontractor made hinge fittings for a system that moves hot air away from flaps on the rear of wings when they are extended, work it was not authorized by the FAA to do.

Southwest suspended D-Velco Aviation Services, of Phoenix, the company that hired the subcontractor, as one of its maintenance vendors, Harbin said. The subcontractor that made the fittings has not been named. The 82 planes represent 15 percent of Southwest's 544-jet fleet. A D-Velco spokesman could not be reach for comment yesterday.

The airline and the Federal Aviation Administration resumed talks yesterday on how to deal with the issue of the parts and the airplanes still flying with them. While the airline, the FAA, and manufacturer Boeing Co. have said the parts do not present a safety risk, U.S. regulations prohibit planes from being flown with pieces made without federal certification.

"They have, albeit potentially inadvertently, violated the regulations by using unauthorized parts," Jon Ash, president of consulting firm InterVistas-GA2 in Washington, said in an interview. "At the end of the day, I suspect they'll receive a fine. That is a given."

The FAA has not decided on a course of action for Southwest, said Lynn Lunsford, an agency spokesman. Should the FAA and the carrier fail to reach an agreement by today, any Southwest jet flown with the unauthorized parts would violate a federal order and the airline may face a fine of as much as $25,000 per flight, Lunsford said.

"We are currently considering a number of possible options and are working to reach a decision as soon as possible," he said. "It would be premature to speculate about the outcome."