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Contact: O.V. Delle-Femine Ernie Kiss DOT REPORT BACKS AMFA CLAIM THAT FAA OVERSIGHT WASHINGTON, August 2, 2005 – The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) said an update report issued today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General (IG) supports AMFA's claim that Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) oversight of outsourced aircraft maintenance facilities remains poor. The new report was requested by the House Aviation Subcommittee co-chairs to see how the FAA has addressed serious under-inspection issues noted in the 2003 IG report, "Review of Air Carriers' Use of Aircraft Repair Stations." "The new report shows that little meaningful progress has been made to correct problems that pose a substantial threat to the safety and security of commercial airline passengers. This comes as no surprise to us, but it is shocking when you consider that as recently as March 2005, the FBI arrested 27 illegal aliens working at TIMCO, one of the biggest outsourced repair shops. One had been working on planes there for 10 years using false papers," said AMFA National Director O.V. Delle-Femine. According to the new report, "FAA initially planned to implement all of our [IG's] recommendations by August 2005. However, its progress has been slow. FAA has completed only one of nine promised actions. FAA…now indicates all recommended actions will not be fully implemented until the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2007. In our view, FAA needs to re-evaluate its timetable…to determine if it can expedite improvements." The report went on to say that "FAA inspections of [domestic] repair stations were infrequent and inspections did not encompass a review of all aspects of repair stations' operations." Regarding inspection of foreign repair stations, the report said, "The foreign aviation authorities did not focus on FAA standards during surveillance, and the inspection documentation provided by the authorities to FAA was incomplete or incomprehensible." AMFA National Safety and Standards Director Ernie Kiss said, "Until the FAA is given adequate financial resources, many of the recommendations will not be implemented. Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association joins the DOT Inspector General and urges the FAA to act on the recommendations, but we also urge Congress and the Bush administration to give the FAA the funding needed to ensure safe air travel." By applying the same FBI background checks and regular FAA facilities inspections to outsourced repair shops as are mandated for the airlines' in-house maintenance operations, risks like this can be avoided, Kiss said. Ninety percent of airline maintenance happens during nighttime hours, yet FAA inspectors spend only 1-7 percent of their time conducting nighttime inspections. In the earlier 2003 report, problems were uncovered at 86 percent of the outsourced repair stations reviewed and included using the wrong aircraft parts, outdated manuals and improperly adjusted tools and equipment. One major airline had 400 FAA inspections of its own maintenance facilities in a 12-month period, but only seven inspections of all of its outsourced facilities combined. The report added that even when outsourced facilities were inspected, the inspections were not thorough. "AMFA applauds the IG's office for providing a report that has important implications for the safety of the American public," Delle-Femine said. AMFA's craft union represents aircraft maintenance technicians and related support personnel at Alaska Airlines, ATA, Horizon Airlines, Independence Airlines, Mesaba Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. AMFA's credo is "Safety in the air begins with quality maintenance on the ground." To learn more about AMFA, visit www.amfanatl.org. ### |