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Tip Of The Iceberg

As reported today in the Pioneer Press: Imagine being able to go online to check the safety record of the airplane on which you're booking a seat. That's one idea that's occurred to Kevin Mitchell as he's watched the latest round of stepped-up airplane inspections by federal regulators. "You'd know where your aircraft was last inspected and repaired," said Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, an advocacy group for business travelers.

BTC ANALYSIS

The highly effective AA and DL inspections of MD-80s this week represent a FAA/airline oversight and inspection process that passengers perceive is always going on in the background. However, such pro-activity, unfortunately, is not the norm. Give credit to House T&I Chair Jim Oberstar who launched a months-long investigation, and scheduled hearings, including the much-anticipated one next week, that prompted the FAA to impose a record face-saving $10.2M fine on Southwest Airlines (this fine will likely be negotiated way down if public attention subsides). Pressure is on the FAA, and growing.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Once focus is shifted away from these recent domestic inspections to FAA airworthiness directives that have been implemented at foreign repair facilities, then flawed current aircraft maintenance outsourcing practices and an outdated FAA oversight model will likely generate headlines on a daily basis. Imagine the concern corporate travel managers and passengers will have when they learn that critical maintenance is being performed in third-world countries by untrained, unlicensed workers who cannot read the English-language maintenance manuals and who did not have criminal background checks performed on them while they work on planes in non-secured areas.

LET THE MARKET DECIDE

Airlines often justify their policies by reciting the mantra of “the market is driving our decisions.” Airline passengers would no doubt drive airline maintenance outsourcing decisions if they possessed complete and accurate information with respect to where their aircraft was last maintained.

Consider these hypothetical passenger choices while booking a flight between Chicago and London.

Option A: Book a flight on an aircraft that was overhauled in Indonesia (a suspected al Qaeda stronghold) by workers with no training in a non-secured facility that rarely, if ever (in the case of non FAA-certificated repair facilities), was inspected by FAA.

Option B: Book a flight on an aircraft that was maintained in the U.S. by licensed mechanics, with an average of 18 years experience, supervised by licensed airline inspectors in a FAA-certificated repair facility where there are sufficient FAA inspectors to oversee the program.

I hope Jim Oberstar’s Committee considers mandating this kind of disclosure, and then the market will truly drive airline maintenance decisions. The concern over this issue is widespread and growing.

WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT FAA OVERSIGHT PROBLEMS?

Corporate travel managers, passengers, airline mechanics, current FAA inspectors, current and past and present NTSB Board members, former NTSB accident investigators, former DOT IGs, former airline CEOs, GAO officials, investigative reporters and senior Congressional staff and Members who have been keen FAA and TSA observers over time.

EDITOR Note: A growing crisis in U.S. regulatory oversight of airlines’ maintenance programs and practices has emerged as recent developments and press stories have established. (See reports and analysis here.) To support a Signatory Letter to House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, please provide your approval HERE by COB Monday, March 31.

AA Grounds MD-8os; A Vivid Oversight Contrast

The Associated Press today broke a story regarding American Airlines cancelling some 200 flights at ORD and DFW to ensure wiring bundles on its MD-80s were installed and secured according to an airworthiness directive. It is not known if the wiring results left American out of compliance.

This joint FAA / American exercise is how the oversight system is supposed to work. Consider two examples: the March 20 grounding of United’s 747s and today’s grounding of American’s MD-80s.

UNITED AIRLINES

The FAA and the carrier had relatively little access to the Ameco maintenance facility in Korea until after the problem was discovered.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American was able to efficiently dispatch teams to review and or fix the harnessing to ensure compliance. Importantly, because American’s maintenance is performed at its U.S. maintenance bases, FAA personnel had ongoing access to American’s line staff, supervisors, aircraft, log books, mechanic’s Task Cards, maintenance manuals, engineers and maintenance control, i.e. where the planes are sent for inspection and modification. What’s more, there are ample FAA inspectors to immediately engage the issue.

The upshot of this vivid contrast is that airlines that are unwilling to have this kind of FAA scrutiny have no incentive to maintain their fleets in the U.S. It’s cheaper and there is less oversight by an order of magnitude when maintenance is performed overseas, sometimes even in non FAA-certificated repair stations that the FAA does not even know exist.

BTC believes that at this time an independent and expert top-down review of the FAA should be undertaken to review its mission, organizational structure, funding, culture and systemic problems. We encourage Congress to consider a directive to the National Academy of Sciences, Transportation Research Board, to perform such a thorough review of the FAA. 

EDITOR’S Note: A growing crisis in U.S. regulatory oversight of airlines’ maintenance programs and practices has emerged as recent developments and press stories have established. (See reports and analysis here.) To support a Signatory Letter to House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, please provide your approval HERE by COB Monday, March 31.

United Airlines Grounds 747s

The Dallas Morning News broke a story this morning regarding a Congressional inquiry into the FAA’s handling of a Continental Airlines’ mishap. The paper writes: “A congressional committee is investigating regulators' decision to grant immunity to Continental Airlines pilots for mistakes that led to an El Paso mechanic being sucked into a jet engine in 2006… The FAA granted amnesty over the objections of a veteran safety inspector, Phil Thrash, who reported his concerns to the FAA's administrator and the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general… They washed their hands of the whole matter," Mr. Thrash said of FAA managers. "It was a cover-up.”

Late this afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported that United Airlines today has grounded up to 6 Boeing 747 jumbo jets because of faulty work performed by a foreign aircraft maintenance facility in Korea. On the heels of the unfolding Southwest Airlines / FAA debacle, this is more evidence that Congress must act with a sense of urgency to pass the FAA Reauthorization bill, which includes measures to address a growing threat to passenger safety and homeland security. 

“There are multiple standards for aircraft maintenance regulations, FAA oversight and TSA security regulations,” stated Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. “Inexcusably, the Reauthorization bill is stalled in the Senate over a $25.00 landing fee, to balance out the financing of the system, while a vividly clear and present danger to passengers and our homeland increases daily. If this Senate impasse is not resolved in coming weeks, there will be no Reauthorization bill for at least another year.

Mitchell continued, “This failure of leadership on such a strategically important issue to this country is regrettable. There is simply no problem in commercial air transportation today of greater consequence facing the government, industry and consumer. BTC calls on Senate leadership to help resolve this gridlock and move the Reauthorization bill forward. Importantly, Congress should add to the bill a directive to the National Academy of Sciences, Transportation Research Board, to perform a top-down review of the FAA.”

For additional background on this issue visit BTC's Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Issue Center.