Aero-News: Quote of the Day

ANN's Quote of the Day usually derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and issues.

Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be thought-provoking.

Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves become future Quotes of the Day.

Let us hear from you, folks!

Aero-News Quote of the Day

"I think this will go on for a while as airlines realign themselves and the FAA adjusts its attitude to be rigorous with the airlines and not partners with them, not treating them as customers. I think we can expect more aircraft being pulled out of service because they weren't inspected when they should have been... [airlines] have to do a vastly better job of scheduling their aircraft for maintenance so that work can be done without inconveniencing the traveling public. It's now reached a crisis point beyond the inspection dates that they've had to take large numbers of aircraft out of service in order to conduct the inspections that should have been done on a routine basis."

Source: Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, who has led the charge against the Federal Aviation Administration, calling on the agency to more strictly regulate its own procedures governing the oversight of US domestic carriers. His name also is synonymous with recent FAA action -- some would say overreaction -- concerning those airlines' compliance with safety procedures and inspections, which resulted in thousands of flight cancellations over the past month.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.house.gov/oberstar/