Skepticism Surrounds FAA 'Customer' Initiative

From USA Today:
Over the past two months, hundreds of thousands of airline passengers were stranded in airports nationwide as more than 3,500 flights were canceled because carriers failed to perform required maintenance. The mass groundings — more extensive than any previous airline safety grounding in history — cost airlines tens of millions of dollars and the goodwill of thousands of people whose plans were disrupted. An investigation into maintenance at Southwest Airlines has also resulted in a $10.2 million proposed fine. Those chaotic flight disruptions at major carriers such as American, Delta and United, and the questions they raised about government oversight of airlines, have also triggered harsh criticism for a 5-year-old initiative by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that aimed for friendlier relations with the airlines it regulates. Instead of relying on strict regulations and punishment to ensure safety, the program sought airline cooperation by treating them as "customers." Critics in Congress and leaders of the FAA's inspector force say blame for the breakdown in airline maintenance rests at least in part on what they call the agency's misguided "Customer Service Initiative" and the way it undercut enforcement of critical safety rules. FAA officials say the customer program was designed to make the agency more responsive to legitimate complaints from airlines that the agency had enforced rules inconsistently. It was not designed, officials say, to soften regulation or stifle inspectors.
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