Journalism tip

I've liked the work of Matthew Wald in the New York Times on the FAA/Southwest airplane inspection scandal, but this should never have appeared in today's story (my emphasis):

One senior executive at another airline, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the agency’s new stance reflects the new tone in aviation safety.

“In the past, you wouldn’t have grounded the whole fleet,” the executive said. “There’s a question of what’s rational and what’s not.”

You want this quote in this story, you have to stand by it. I suspect that it violates the Times's policy on anonymous quotes, too.

That's not power, Ray, that's a piece of paper

The FAA says it's "data-driven", but when all you look at all day is airline-generated paper instead of looking at metal, wiring, rubber, electronics, and fuel, the first piece of real data you're likely to get is a blip vanishing off radar. Out of sight, out of mind is exactly what inspections are supposed to prevent.

When you think of how many thousands of daily flights there are, 99% compliance is pretty slipshod. It means thousands of inadequately inspected planes have been flying every year. Thousands. With hundreds of thousands of actual people on board.

Yes, I've been one of those at-risk passengers. Without even venturing onto a third world airline.

Can't regulate safety!

Always remember, Republicans don't believe in regulations, even the ones that could save your life. They believe in the market, the holy market, from whom all blessings flow - and it keeps the pipeline for funeral services good and full, too.

Look, lots of countries don't regulate their airlines. They are called third world countries, and their planes fall out of the sky far more often than ours. That's where the Republicans want us to be, too.

Why Americans stand for it is the real puzzle.

Update: Here's a big piece of the puzzle. It's the stupidity, stupid! Bill comments at CNN:

I fly Southwest often and this is pretty disturbing. On the other hand, it is pretty typical of what to expect from a government program. All government is good at is wasting tax dollars. It's been that way for at least 50 years. Time for less government and not more!!!

In this story, lowly government employees found a problem in the private sector and got attention for it despite the anti-regulation political leanings of the current Republican administration. And the problem is ... government!

If this guy died in a plane crash caused by illegal shoddy and deferred maintenance, he'd still be blaming the government and not Southwest.