Thomas Stuckey, a Federal Aviation Administration official who was criticized for the way the agency handled missed safety inspections at Southwest Airlines, was reassigned to another position in the agency, a spokeswoman said.

Spokeswoman Laura Brown said Stuckey still works for FAA but is no longer director of flight standards for the Fort Worth, Texas regional office, which covers five states. Brown said he was moved to "an administrative position that doesn't have safety oversight," but declined to give any reason for the move.

Stuckey came under fire during a congressional hearing last week for failing to take action on concerns about lax inspection enforcement at Southwest Airlines. Several FAA employees took their concerns before Congress.

The agency fined Southwest $10.2 million last month for flying planes that had missed inspections.

Penelope Brown
Traffic World