Hoffa Thanks T&I Chairman For Efforts

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on Thursday said Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar deserves praise for exposing lax inspection practices within the Federal Aviation Administration.

As ANN reported, Oberstar (D-MN) has led the effort to expose the possibly too-cozy relationship between FAA inspectors and airline management. On Thursday, he questioned under oath three FAA inspectors who were punished for trying to expose Southwest Airlines' failure to perform required inspections.

"The flying public owes Chairman Oberstar a debt of gratitude," Hoffa said. "For too long, there has been collusion and abuse in airline safety oversight. By bringing forward these whistleblowers, Chairman Oberstar brought into the light a practice that had been in the dark too long."

Since Southwest Airlines' lapsed inspections were exposed, the FAA has ordered an audit of the airline industry's compliance with its safety directives. Hundreds of MD-80s at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were grounded to check wiring, and United Airlines has had to check Boeing 747s and 777s because of inspection and testing issues.

"Chairman Oberstar is correct when he identifies safety as the relative absence of risk," Hoffa said. "The Teamsters stand behind him 100 percent."

A key concern for the Teamsters is the growing practice of outsourcing aviation repairs to foreign repair stations. The Teamsters are concerned that the FAA does not hold overseas maintenance facilities to the same standards as domestic

The Teamsters advocate one standard governing the operations of airline-owned maintenance facilities and domestic U.S. and foreign repair facilities.

FMI: www.teamsters.org