The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) defended the safety management system despite the Southwest maintenance snafu. "The commercial aviation system in the United States is the safest in the world," said FSF President and CEO William R. Voss, "and both the FAA and industry should be justifiably proud of their record. As in any safety management system, there is always room for continuous improvement, but we cannot allow isolated breakdowns, which the FAA and industry are moving swiftly to address, to ruin partnership programs that have demonstrably contributed to aviation's sterling safety record. Nor can we afford to dry up the free flow of information that allows professionals to identify problems before they become safety threats," Voss continued. "We cannot create a wall between the FAA and the airlines that will stop the flow of information and set aviation safety back 20 years."