Airline Regulation      

Airline Regulation

Earlier this year, the Office of Special Counsel released a report that faulted how the Federal Aviation Administration’s employees accorded Southwest Airlines preferential treatment as alleged by a whistleblower (Pasztor  & Sider, 2020). The issue of focus for this paper is the Federal Aviation Administration’s handling of Southwest Airlines’ inspection. This paper focuses on how my understanding of this issue has changed for the period I have been researching it as well as the effects of my earlier-held assumptions in helping me understand the topic under review.

Changes that Have Occurred in My Understanding of this Issue

Numerous changes occurred in my understanding of airline regulation. I used to think that the FAA had the final say as far as the regulation of the aviation sector is concerned. The nature of regulation I am talking about entails registering an airline and ensuring that it meets the necessary minimum requirements in terms of the condition of its aircrafts and the experience of its human resources. However, I have learned that the government, specifically Congress, has immense direct contributions to the aviation sector. For instance, it can exert pressure on the FAA by demanding that the latter relook at a certain issue brought to its attention by various stakeholders, including members of the public. Also, I have learned that airlines may influence how federal agencies operate.

Do You Know More About The Issue/Event Now Than You Did Before?

Yes. I now know more about the issue of airline regulation that I did before. For instance, I now know that Congress is involved in the regulation of the aviation sector. Also, I now understand that everything is not in black and white as far as the aviation industry is concerned. At the same time, I understand that the US has stricter regulations on aircrafts that have been used outside the country and which are intended to be utilized by American companies. According to Reed (2020), aircrafts used by foreign airlines must be subjected to stricter scrutiny by employees of FAA before they can be used by domestic companies to transport passengers. I was not aware of this fact.

Do You Look at the Issue/Event From A Different Perspective Following Your Research?

I now look at the issue of airline regulation from an entirely new perspective. I feel that the aviation sector is not fault-proof. Also, I view myself as an essential part of the airline regulation. As a passenger, I have a crucial responsibility of ensuring the safety of people using air transport by providing any information that may help improve the safety of this sector to relevant authorities. According to Reed (2020), the Inspector General for the Department of Transport has faulted both the FAA and Southwest Airlines for their roles in compromising the safety of people using transportation services offered by the latter. As such, I now know that both of these entities are to blame for laxity in fulfilling their respective mandates. However, I now see that none of the agencies tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of air transport is taking responsibility for what happened between Southwest airlines and the FAA. Instead, there are engaging in blame games.

Have You Reconsidered Opinions Or Assumptions that You Held at the Beginning of the Semester?

Yes. At the beginning of this semester, I thought that the businesses operate free from government intrusion. I thought that the only way through which the government is involved in the running of businesses is through taxes and protection of minorities, such as women and disabled. Additionally, I have always thought that the aviation sector is the most regulated industry in the country. This is because the sector has the potential to cause serious harm if there is a loophole in its regulations.

How Did those Changes Occur?

I can across an article exploring how Southwest Airlines may have influenced the decision of FAA in approving the company’s new flight path from California to Hawaii. This article made me believe that Southwest Airlines was to blame for exerting undue influence on the operations of FAA’s inspectors. However, I encountered another article that provided the roles of each agency involved in the regulations of airlines. This article brought to my attention the fact that Southwest Airlines is not solely to blame for the incident in question. Finally, I encountered an article that explored the incident in question from the perspective of the Department of Transport. This article made me realize that each of the agencies involved in the regulation of the operations of airlines is engaging in blame games.

Which Sources From Your Research Had the Greatest Effect on Your Understanding?

The source that had the greatest effect on my understanding is the article by Pasztor and Sider (2020). The article by Pasztor and Sider (2020) explored the laxity that characterizes the FAA when it comes to the regulation of the aviation sector. The article showed me that the FAA might have deliberately failed to follow the laydown procedure pertaining to the approval of a new flight path when dealing with Southwest Airlines. Additionally, the article by Allison (2018) was instrumental in shaping my understanding of the regulation of the aviation sector. The article made me realize that various bodies have a mandate of ensuring that the aviation sector does not jeopardize the safety of its workers and clients. I was unaware of the contributions of some of the organizations explored in this article, such as the Environmental Protection Agency to the aviation sector. Additionally, the article by Shepardson and Rucinski (2020) made me realize that the FAA was not falsely accused of failing to scrutinize Southwest Airlines properly. In this article, the FAA admitted that it erred in the way it inspected the secondhand jets operated by Southwest Airlines.

Did The Process of Writing About Your Topic Affect the Way You Thought About It?

Writing about airline regulation made think that the aviation sector is so important that everyone should be involved in ensuring that it is safeguarded. Before embarking on this project, I thought that airline regulation only concerns FAA and companies operating in the aviation sector. While writing this paper, I realized that government agencies, consumer protection organizations, and ordinary people have a stake in airline regulation. Also, I learned that there are organizations whose mandate is ensuring the opinions of the public who use air transport are listened to and acted upon by the airline these persons use.

What Role Did Interaction With Your Classmates and/or Professor Play in Your Understanding of Your Topic?

In this course, the instructor spent a significant amount of time talking about how various internal and external factors influence the operations of a business. While completing this assignment, I realized that the government has delegated its duties of regulating businesses to specific organizations depending on the industry a certain firm operates in. For instance, I learned that the FAA has a legal mandate to shape the way businesses in the aviation sector operate in terms of which flight path they can use, among other things. Also, the agency ensures that all airlines adhere to government regulations, for instance, when it comes to stopping the usage of a specific aircraft model because of one reason or another. In the case of Southwest Airlines, the government decision to halt the continued usage of Boeing Max 737 aircraft had a significant implication on the company’s profitability (Pasztor & Sider, 2020). From the course teachings, a company usually does not have any control over external factors. However, the report from the Inspector General of the Department of Transport faulted Southwest Airlines for “Diversion, distraction, and power to get what the company wants” (Reed, 2020, Para. 4). This suggests that Southwest Airlines had a say on the extent to which government regulations impact it.

In conclusion, airline regulation is a serious responsibility that needs to be shared among all stakeholders. Going forward, I will be on the lookout for some of the irregularities I observe while using air transport. This is because I have realized that one person can save lives if he or she shares his or her observations with relevant agencies. From this activity, I have realized that one event or situation may be reported from different perspectives. Each source prioritizes on providing specific information that it deems relevant. As such, it is important that one uses more than one source when exploring a specific issue for a more objective opinion regarding the event or situation under review.

References

Allison, J. (2018). Regulation of the aviation industry. Retrieved from https://guides.library.harvard.edu/aviation_regulation

Pasztor, A. & Sider, A. (2020). FAA lowered bar for Southwest Airlines approvals, complaint alleges; whistleblower says regulators sped approval of Hawaii flights for ‘the financial benefit of the airline.’ Retrieved from http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/docview/2343177326?accountid=14580

Reed, D. (2020). DOT’S inspector general slams Southwest Airlines and the FAA inspectors who monitor it, cites long-standing safety failures by both. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielreed/2020/02/12/southwest-airlines-faa-inspectors-safety/#570afea82f94

Shepardson, D. & Rucinski, T. (2020). FAA agrees it must boost safety oversight for Southwest Airlines. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southwest-safety-exclusive/faa-agrees-it-must-boost-safety-oversight-for-southwest-airlines-idUSKBN2052L8