Grounded Southwest jets don't use MacArthur
Southwest Airlines Flight 812, which was headed from Phoenix to Sacramento, Calif., sits safely on the tarmac at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station/International Airport after a hole in its fuselage forced an emergency landing in Yuma, Ariz. (April 1, 2011) Credit: AP
None of the Boeing 737-300 planes Southwest Airlines grounded Saturday for emergency safety inspections uses Long Island MacArthur Airport, an airline spokeswoman said.
Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger acknowledged, though, that the ripple effects of the inspections would disrupt flights to and from MacArthur. Southwest flights from LaGuardia appeared to be little affected, and the airline does not fly into Kennedy Airport.
A MacArthur spokeswoman said two Southwest flights from were canceled Saturday. It was not known if the cancellations were related to the inspections.
Southwest said it was grounding 80 planes for safety inspections after an emergency landing Friday in Arizona caused by a hole in a 15-year-old plane's fuselage.
Eichinger said Saturday that the Texas-based airline flies only newer Boeing 737-700s into the airport in Ronkonkoma.
Southwest did use the older jets at MacArthur three years ago, when the airline's maintenance practices came into question. The airline agreed then to pay a $7.5-million federal fine for flying planes without performing mandatory inspections for fuselage cracks. Most of those planes also were the 737-300 model.
The 737-300 is the oldest plane in Southwest's fleet, The Associated Press reported Saturday. The company is retiring the planes as it take deliveries of new Boeing 737-700s and, beginning next year, the 737-800s.
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