Department of Transportation

(Newser) - The Federal Aviation Administration is too lax, and its recent toughening-up long overdue, the Transportation Department’s inspector general Calvin Scovel told senators today. The agency should not rely, as it has until recently, on airlines to voluntarily disclose safety oversights, and shouldn’t provide loopholes for the appropriate penalties...

(Newser) - Southwest Airlines faces at least $3 million in fines sought by the FAA for failing to inspect 46 older Boeing 737-300 jets for structural flaws identified in a 2004 safety directive, reports the Wall Street Journal. The expected penalty would be the largest imposed on an airline in 20 years....