Third-party maintenance is again under fire, this time by none other than the august Consumer Reports which is publishing the results of its study in its March 2007 issue. This is, however, a lesson we were supposed to have learned over a decade ago after the fallout of the ValuJet accident. Instead it points up how much the industry has changed and how far the oversight has to go before it catches up with the 21st Century way of the airline maintenance business.
Regional airlines, which are growing their third-party maintenance capabilities, are sure to take heed of the article "An Accident Waiting to Happen?" even though they were not the focus of the CR investigation. It has already peaked interest on Capitol Hill.
The magazine cited a 2005 Inspector General report saying that neither the six airlines studied nor the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided adequate oversight at non-certificated facilities. The FAA only cited the industry's recent safety record as proof safety has not been compromised. The magazine ran a chart showing how outsourcing has grown and how proposed and actual fines have declined sharply.
Air Safety Week, RAN’s sister publication, reported that the FAA has admitted that its emphasis is now on reporting rather than physical inspections at the work-place. This is a convenient fit with the fact that much of the outsourced maintenance is being done overseas. In many cases the work is signed off on by licensed aviation mechanics after being carried out by unlicensed tradesmen. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) conveyed its concerns as far as Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), House transportation committee chair. He endorses their concerns and says that outsourced aircraft maintenance is "not being done with the same oversight" as maintenance performed by airline employees. A Department of Transportation report stated that "the FAA never inspected approximately 1,400 non-certificated repair facilities, including 104 foreign facilities." In a different facet of the Consumer Reports' determinations, they claim that "arrests at some [outsourced] repair shops have snared terrorism suspects and illegal aliens, who were subsequently deported."
“As the major airlines hire low-cost bidders in locations throughout the U.S., and in Mexico, El Salvador, China, Singapore, and the Philippines, much of the work is being done by non-licensed mechanics,” said CR. “The practice is allowed under federal rules, as long as one licensed employee signs off on the job.” The magazine also emphasized the growing reliance on statistical-based analysis rather than physical inspections of repair facilities, adding this is compounded by the fall in the number of safety inspectors through attrition.
The report drew support from the 11,000-plus members of the FAA’s Professional Airways System Specialists, responsible for the inspections, calling it a “wake-up call to the FAA.” Related Article