We have digital cable from Time Warner, which includes over 40 channels of digital music. One station is all 80s music. We had some friends from church over for dinner and played 80s music. It was great! They just played Terrance Trent D’arby’s “Wishing Well”, which I hadn’t heard in a LONG time. I vary the station by my mood. When I’m reading my Bible during breakfast, I like the soothing piano/new age station. In the evening if I’m hanging out alone, I often jam with the smooth jazz station. During the day I might switch to one of the rock, gospel, or bluegrass stations. It’s great!

You might have heard that the FAA has proposed a $10 million fine for Southwest for missing some maintenance inspections on dozens of aircraft and then continuing to fly them for a few days afterward. Yes, we screwed up by missing those inspections, and last March we voluntarily admitted it to the FAA. After realizing this, we worked out a plan with the FAA and Boeing to inspect those aircraft over a 10-day period. For both proactive inspections like these and minor aircraft repairs, it is common to have a short grace period to complete the work, such as a certain number of days or flights. Boeing and our FAA inspectors approved our plan, we inspected the aircraft, and the FAA considered the case closed in April. Apparently a couple of other FAA employees disagreed and took their “story” to an influential Minnesota congressman who is making a huge deal about it. I am very confident in the safety of our aircraft and maintenance program. I’ve dispatched tens of thousands of flights carrying hundreds of thousands of people; sent my wife, family, and friends on our flights; and personally flown Southwest many, many times with full confidence that each aircraft was safe. I hope and expect that the FAA will at least reduce this ridiculous fine if not cancel it once they hear the full story. You can read some of Southwest’s official response on southwest.com.

I had recurrent training this week, which meant 3 days of going in at 7:00am to hear about various topics. Jenny and I carpooled all three days, just like in the old days when I worked in Technology. I enjoy recurrent training because it’s a chance to be with coworkers in a different setting, get refreshed on some things I’ve forgotten, and learn about what’s ahead. Dispatch has a new weather and flight plotting system scheduled for this summer, better access to a high-tech radar system at several airports, and a new type of navigational capability called RNP that should save us time and fuel plus improve safety and reliability. There’s always something brewing, it seems, and I like that.