The "cozy" relationship between the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines it is charged with overseeing will be the subject of a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing Thursday, said its chair Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn.

Oberstar, said the hearing comes after a committee investigation and follows Southwest Airlines record-setting $10.2 million fine by the FAA on March 6 for operating 46 planes that had not been properly inspected.

"Complacency has set in at the highest level of FAA management," Oberstar said, outlining the subject of a House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing scheduled for Thursday. "We need a change of attitude at the highest level of the FAA."

The action against Southwest was followed by a directive from the FAA that led to grounding airplanes at two other airlines, Delta and American Airlines.

The grounding may have been the result of the committee's investigation and planned hearing. "I think there was a very significant shift in consciousness," Oberstar said.