Senator Asks Why FAA 'Needed To Double-Check Its Work'

Last week, industry analysts suggested an FAA crackdown that resulted in thousands of cancelled flights and hundreds-of-thousands of stranded passengers had more to do with FAA face-saving than legitimate safety concerns.

On Thursday, acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell was forced to answer similar questions from the Senate subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development.

The Seattle Times reports Washington state Democrat Senator Patty Murray, who chairs the subcommittee, lectured Sturgell. "We need an FAA that actually fixes problems as they are found rather than one that rushes into a public relations campaign to assure everyone that there isn't a problem."

She later commented, "When I first heard of his plan, I questioned why the agency needed to double-check its work. The taxpayers and this subcommittee paid for full compliance the first time."

The FAA says it now has a new reporting system in which inspectors will be freer to voice concerns, and says it will strengthen ethics policies to avoid conflicts of interests.

Sturgell admits there were problems with the agency's former mindset about working with airlines... but adds the 'partnership' approach should not be tossed out completely.

"If we return to the 'gotcha' approach of decades past ... I think we risk driving these safety issues underground," Sturgell told the Senate panel, reports Dow Jones Newswires.

"I sympathize and apologize for the stress last week's cancellations caused the flying public," Sturgell added. "It is my job though to worry about the safety of the system and to act on deficiencies we see in the system."

FMI: www.faa.gov