Southwest Grounds Dozens Of Jets

DALLAS (AP) – Southwest Airlines says it grounded 41 planes last night as the airline deals with fallout from using aircraft that had not gone through a required inspection for possible structural damage.

Spokeswoman Christi Day says the move resulted in some flights being canceled Wednesday, but she doesn’t have a precise figure.

The move comes as Southwest faces a $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes after the airline admitted that it had missed required inspections of the planes for structural cracks.

Southwest also put three employees on leave after being notified of the penalty by the Federal Aviation Administration.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)