Ethics and the Airlines - Research Paper Example

Organizations that fail to comply may be subjected to huge fines or other more severe consequences. Aviation stakeholders have fallen victim to violations of safety regulations among several carriers over the years. In 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration found that Southwest Airlines had not complied with safety regulations. The organization has gone for a record 59,000 flights without carrying out the proper inspections required for such flights. After realizing this problem, FAA officers augmented the problem by failing to report it and suppressing other similar evidence.

It was only through interventions by two whistleblowers that the matter was put under investigation. A settlement was reached 3 years later, and the company had to pay 7.5 million dollars for flying unfit consumer airplanes. The above incident is one of many that have occurred over the past 7 years; another one involved American Airlines. In 2008 it was found that the organization had also not carried out maintenance of their aircrafts. They had put many passengers at risk and were required to pay a hefty sum of $ 15 million.

Hawaiian Airlines was the most recent one, and can be a suitable case study for ethics and safety issues in aviation. In an FAA press release, it was announced that Hawaiian Airlines had been operating a Boeing 767-300 flight without conducting proper inspections of the parts. These requirements were outlined in a 2000 airworthiness direct (AD). This error was detected by the FAA in 2012 when the Airlines’ documents indicated that the particular AD under consideration was not applicable to the company.

Approximately 5,000 flights had occurred on the flight without these inspections. Statutory and legal directives are highly critical in the aviation industry because without them, people’s lives could be placed at risks. Airworthiness directives are