Says Outsourced Stations Represent 62 Percent Of Carriers' Mx
Costs
Tom
Brantley, national president of the Professional Airways Systems
Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS), testified Thursday before the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on
Aviation, to address FAA oversight of outsourced air carrier
maintenance.
"In recent years, the overall dynamic of the aviation industry
has experienced dramatic changes," said Brantley. According to the
Department of Transportation Inspector General, use of outsourced
repair stations has grown to 62 percent of air carriers'
maintenance costs in 2005. "PASS and the inspector workforce we
represent have serious safety concerns regarding this escalating
trend and the FAA's ability to oversee the outsourced work," said
Brantley.
Brantley maintains that of primary importance to protecting
aviation safety is ensuring that there is an adequate number of
inspectors in place to oversee the outsourced work. Yet, a staffing
crisis is looming with nearly half of this workforce eligible to
retire by 2010.
A recent study released by the National Academy of Sciences
called attention not only to insufficient inspector staffing but
also to the FAA's lack of a viable inspector staffing model. PASS
believes that it is critical that the FAA develop a staffing model
to determine the correct number of inspectors in position to
accomplish the responsibilities of the job.
Brantley also expressed concern that instead of increasing
inspector staffing, the FAA was moving toward a data-driven
approach for determining risk, which he says would diminish the
critical role inspectors play in the oversight process. "There is
no argument against the importance of raising staffing levels for
the inspector workforce, talented and skilled federal employees who
are trained to hear and see things that are not quantifiable
through any type of database," said Brantley.
Brantley also discussed additional problems related to
insufficient oversight of outsourced maintenance at domestic and
foreign repair stations, including the repair station practice of
subcontracting out maintenance work to additional facilities, many
of which are not certificated by the FAA and therefore not subject
to direct inspector oversight. "Despite the fact that
non-certificated facilities are performing safety-critical work,
FAA oversight is practically nonexistent," said Brantley. "This
practice cannot continue without a significant increase in risk to
aviation safety.
"Oversight of outsourced maintenance is in critical need of
attention and improvement," continued Brantley. "In order for our
inspectors to continue to provide adequate oversight for the
aviation system, the FAA must take immediate steps to increase
staffing and funding for its inspector workforce so they are able
to continue to defend this country's reputation as having the
safest and most efficient aviation system in the world," said
Brantley.