The announcement that Southwest was already accelerating its inspection process as a precautionary measure was posted by the airline last week: “The accelerated inspections are being performed out of an abundance of caution and are expected to be completed over the next 30 days.”

The FAA’s inspection order applies to CFM56-7B engines, specifically engines with more than 30,000 total cycles from new, the directive reads. Southwest Airlines cancelled about 40 flights Sunday as the airline stepped up efforts to inspect the engines of its Boeing 737 fleet on the heels of last week’s deadly engine explosion on Flight 1380. It said on Monday it anticipated “minimal delays or cancellations each day due to the inspections.”

The company added it “will continue our work to minimize flight disruptions by performing inspections overnight while aircraft are not flying, and utilizing spare aircraft, when available.”

The Federal Aviation Administration and European regulators ordered emergency inspections within 20 days of nearly 700 aircraft engines similar to the one involved in the fatal Southwest engine blowout. Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport last Tuesday after one of the blades on the 737-700’s left engine snapped off mid-flight. The airline voluntarily announced inspections of engines in the CFM56 family – which powers nearly all of Southwest’s fleet – on Tuesday, after a passenger died when she was partially sucked out of an aircraft window that had been shattered in by the engine blast. The FAA said on Friday the “unsafe condition” was “likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.” A Southwest flight in August 2016 made a safe emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida, after a fan blade separated from the same type of engine and debris ripped a hole above the left wing prompting two service bulletins from engine manufacturer CFM International, a joint venture co-owned by General Electric Co (GE.N) and France’s Safran SA (SAF.PA).
Southwest Airlines cancels 128 flights in addition to 40 cancelled yesterday as it inspects the CFM56-7B engines mounted to its Boeing 737 fleet following a fatal accident.