Over the last few months, a number of safety incidents on Southwest Airlines (LUV) flights have placed the airline in a spotlight it would rather not be under.
At the end of June, a flight leaving from Maine's Portland accidentally took off from a closed runway while the FAA is currently investigating a flight traveling from Las Vegas to Ohio's Columbus that set off emergency alarms when it dropped to less than 500 feet shortly after departure.
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Another incident of a plane flying significantly below appropriate altitude occurred on Southwest Flight 425 from Columbus to Florida's Tampa. On July 14, the Boeing 737 Max plane (BA) descended to 175 feet (53 meters) from the ground while still three miles from Tampa International Airport (TPA); such a low altitude is reserved only for when the plane is moments away from landing or take-off.
Southwest confirms investigation, says it is looking to 'understand and address any irregularities'
After an air traffic controller observed that the plane was flying too low, the pilots were ordered to redirect the flight to the closer Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Designed to go off any time the plane reaches too far below the appropriate altitude, the low-altitude alarms went off in a way that caused panic amid the passengers aboard.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now conducting an investigation to determine how the plane reached such a low altitude. Southwest confirmed to Reuters that it was cooperating "to understand and address any irregularities" that occurred.
"Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees," an airline representative said further.
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'An air traffic controller alerted that the aircraft had descended to a low altitude'
That said, the number of similar low-altitude incidents have caused some raised eyebrows amid Southwest customers. On June 19, another flight going from Las Vegas to Oklahoma City dropped to 500 feet too far from the airport but was able to regain altitude before it made its descent.
"After an automated warning sounded, an air traffic controller alerted the crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 4069 that the aircraft had descended to a low altitude nine miles away from Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City," the government agency wrote of the incident. "[...] Please contact the airline for additional information."
Amid the string of incidents, Southwest is facing scrutiny at a time when it is also dealing with a number of organizational and financial problems. Shares of the airline are down 5% year-over-year at $27.18 while its most recent earnings report showed a quarterly loss that widened from $159 million to $231 million in a year.
Investment firm Elliott Management, which recently acquired $1.9 billion of Southwest stock, has previously called for an executive overhaul that would replace current chief executive Bob Jordan and board chairman Gary Kelly over what it sees as "poor execution and leadership's stubborn unwillingness to evolve the company's strategy."
Southwest, in turn, said that it is "confident" that the current leadership is taking steps that will soon start bringing in "long-term value" to investors; their differing opinions have remained largely at a standstill in the month since Elliott Management sent out the note to investors.
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