Passengers stuck in Oakland due to grounded Southwest flights

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- What began as a maintenance problem at Southwest Airlines has evolved into an even larger public relations one.

Ten flights were cancelled flights at the Oakland International Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It's been a frustrating day for some Southwest Airlines passengers facing long delays.

The airline grounded more than 128 of its Boeing 737 planes because it failed to do some FAA mandated inspections.

The last would have left Oakland at 5:20 p.m. Most were going to Los Angeles or Burbank.

The problems have been system wide and so have the upset passengers.

"I can't believe they would do this. I always loved flying Southwest Airlines before this but after this, there is no way I would ever get on one of their planes," said Julie Karloff killing time with her friend, Michael Richardson, almost 24 hours after their scheduled arrival in Seattle from Omaha.

"Why should I suffer because Southwest didn't do their job?" said passenger Ashley Hotzel.

Southwest voluntarily pulled the planes from service after discovering that they had not received maintenance checks on a back-up hydraulic system.

But that is not what passengers say they heard.

"All they told us is it was a random inspection, so they were delayed," said Keith Nege, also a passenger.

The FAA has fined Southwest more than $22 million for faulty maintenance since 2008.

The airline has a history of maintenance disputes with the FAA, which now says it may continue to fly the 128 planes presently in question, for five more days before inspecting them.

Back in the terminal, that did not go over well.

"They have not done the inspections and they are still flying them?" asked one passenger.

Aviation experts say there is nothing to worry about and to keep the issue in context.

"Airplane safety depends on doing it right all the time. If not, the airlines and FAA jump on it like a June bug and that is exactly what the FAA has done," said aviation consultant John Nance.

The public relations resolution, however, may take a bit longer.