I'm kind of a nervous flier. So are union members at the Federal Aviation Administration. Problems: airplane maintenance shifting to overseas plus fewer air controllers
A March 2007 investigation by Consumer Reports made me worried enough about flying, an issue that seems to grow bigger as I grow older. It seems I'm not the only Nervous Nellie.
A press release from the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), the union that represents more than 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, calls the findings a "wake-up call to the FAA." The article, titled "An accident waiting to happen?" explores the air safety concerns arising from the increasing outsourcing of maintenance and inspection responsibilities.
Consumer Reports wrote that airlines are increasing their reliance on overseas maintenance facilities, which are subject to less oversight and fewer inspections. At the same time, the FAA is reducing the actual number of inspections of repair facilities and airline oversight in general.
The margin of safety thus decreases as airlines contract out more than half of their maintenance work.
According to the magazine, domestic and foreign repair posts rely on staff that is not licensed and does not undergo security screenings. It also said the FAA is growing more reliant on statistical-based analysis, rather than physical inspections of repair facilities.
The double whammy is compounded by the fact that this is happing at the same time as the FAA is allowing the number of safety inspectors to dissipate through attrition.
"The FAA is playing a dangerous game" by allowing more maintenance overseas while "the number of inspectors to shrink, with 50 percent of inspectors being eligible to retire by 2010. It is literally a disaster waiting to happen," said a union official.
Once upon a time, most of us thought air travel was safer than driving a car. Now? It ain't fun because of heavy security and packed planes. Now it might be a little less safe as well. How do you feel about this? Let's hear from you.
