I have worked with the attorney who filed Whistle-Blower complaints with the US Department of Labor on maintenance issues. A whistle blower complaint, part of a recent congressional bill called Air21, provides that if a company takes retaliatory action against an employee who makes a valid safety complaint or report the company is fined and the employee’s employment status is returned to its former status, If he is fired, he gets his job back if demoted or reduced in pay he’s made whole and returned to prior pay status.
A letter from the law firm to the FAA is here:
https://www.local591.com/docs/FAA-OI...ter%5B2%5D.pdf
I am aware that several whistle blower comlaints have been filed and that many of them have survived initial motions to dismiss, which is the first thing the company would do in response to a lawsuit. That means they are going to trial, the FAA is on notice, as evidenced by the letter above, and that SWA is pulling quipment out of services for maintenance purposes.
SWA as the carrier and legal entity makes the decision to pull an aircraft from service. If a management maintenance supervisor with a license won’t sign the airplane off and he disagrees with a line maintenance mechanic about an item, when then is SWA now self grounding airplane?
What’s the difference now from last year? The Trials will probably focus on what has happened but mechanics claim they are being pressured to sign things off as airworthy that should really be repaired and when the mechanics point out other discrepancies that will delay or ground a fight they are being retaliated against, hence the whistle-blower legal actions.