U.S. Justice Department Sues Southwest Airlines Over Maintenance Issues

The federal government is suing Southwest Airlines Co. after failing to reach a settlement with the carrier over repairs to dozens of planes that didn't meet safety standards. The Justice Department sued Southwest on Monday in federal district court in Washington state. The lawsuit seeks to enforce $12 million in civil penalties that the Federal Aviation Administration announced in late July. The government says that starting in 2006 Southwest hired a contractor to make extensive repairs on 44 planes to prevent the aluminum skin from cracking. The FAA says the contractor, Aviation Technical Services Inc. of Everett, Washington, failed to follow proper procedures. The Southwest case is the second-largest penalty that the FAA has ever sought against an airline, behind only a $24.2 million case against American Airlines.