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Klobuchar and Snowe Measure to Toughen Airline Safety Rules Included in FAA Reauthorization Bill

Senators question "cozy'' relationship between FAA and airlines

April 29, 2008

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Olympia Snowe announced today that their proposal giving force of law to tough new airline safety rules will be included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill that comes before the Senate this week. The rules are designed to improve airline safety and bring an end to the cozy relationship that has developed between airlines and some federal regulators.

The FAA reauthorization bill includes a Snowe-Klobuchar proposal to implement safety recommendations recently released by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which Klobuchar highlighted at a recent Commerce Committee hearing. Klobuchar chaired a hearing on April 10 that disclosed a pattern of breakdowns in what is supposed to be a voluntary safety reporting system between airlines and the FAA.

“Our hearing produced evidence of a revolving door between the FAA and the airlines, and of airlines gaming the system to learn when their inspections will occur,’’ Klobuchar said. “We need to be clear: It is the American public that is the customer of the FAA, and not the airlines.’’

“Nothing is more important than ensuring the safety and security of America’s passengers,” said Snowe, who also serves on the Commerce Committee.  “The lack of oversight and transparency regarding airline safety inspection procedures has put our nation’s travelers at risk.  Relying on the word of the airlines to do the job is no longer a viable option.  We need to codify our safety expectations into law and hold anyone who tries to undermine the integrity of the safety process accountable.”

Last month, FAA inspectors disclosed that Southwest Airlines had continued flying airplanes even though critical safety checks involving cracks in aircraft fuselages had not been performed on approximately 50 jets. Also in April, American Airlines cancelled nearly 2,000 flights in order to catch up on inspections of aircraft wiring – inspections that should have been performed previously under its agreement with the FAA.

Language included in the FAA reauthorization bill is nearly identical to language drafted by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN) and Snowe (R-ME). It would:

• Modify the FAA’s Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program so that FAA inspectors would be required to verify that carriers have actually implemented solutions to the safety problems they disclose to the agency.
• Require the FAA to establish a national review team of experienced agency inspectors to conduct periodic, unannounced audits of FAA air carrier inspection facilities to make sure that aircraft inspections are carried out in a rigorous and timely fashion.
• Establish a cooling-off period so that supervisory FAA inspectors who leave government service cannot immediately go to work for an airline they used to inspect.
• Establish a more rigorous national tracking system so the FAA can make sure that inspections and airline corrective actions are accomplished on schedule.

Late last month the FAA announced that it was adopting many of the Inspector General’s recommendations. But Klobuchar and Snowe said it is important to incorporate those recommendations into the FAA reauthorization bill to give them the force of law and set a one-year deadline for their full implementation.

“The FAA needs to do more than just trust that the airlines are complying with all federal safety regulations,’’ Klobuchar said. “It needs to be vigilant in ensuring that the airlines comply with regulations and, when necessary, it needs to take aggressive enforcement action to make sure the voluntary system works.’’


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