The Business Travel Coalition (BTC), in a letter to Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), applauded an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill sponsored by the Senators to strengthen the safety and security protocols associated with aircraft maintenance outsourcing and foreign repair stations. Outsourcing has increased from 37% of maintenance expenditures for major U.S. airlines in 1996 to 64% in 2006. However, FAA has failed to modernize its oversight model; has downplayed the risk to passengers and homeland security from outsourcing in the absence of harmonized standards; and has passively sought the necessary funding for a world-class oversight program.

The McCaskill-Specter amendment seeks to address many oversight gaps that the U.S. DOT Inspector General has identified over several years and to provide funding sufficient to deal with this significant shift in maintenance work to overseas facilities.

Specifically, the amendment requires:

• the FAA to identify non-certificated repair facilities and to expand surveillance and oversight of them;
• that significant maintenance work be performed or directly supervised by FAA-certificated personnel;
• the FAA to inspect certificated foreign repair stations twice a year with at least one inspection without advance notification;
• drug and alcohol testing for employees of foreign repair stations who perform safety-sensitive functions;
• foreign repair stations to comply with TSA security protocols;
• the FAA to update its fee schedule for foreign repair station certification and recover the fully burdened costs of inspection programs for these stations; and
• annual reports from the DOT Inspector General on implementation of the amendment.

“We applaud your untiring leadership in seeking to safeguard the flying public and strengthen our homeland security. Your amendment effectively addresses many concerns regarding FAA oversight of foreign repair stations raised by DOT Inspectors General, current and former NTSB officials, FAA Inspectors, the Teamsters and corporations that field millions of business travelers throughout the aviation system,” wrote BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell to Senators McCaskill and Specter. “There is still additional work to be done such as providing consumers with information regarding where aircraft are maintained and developing a single and high standard for all domestic U.S. aircraft maintenance. These are issues we will focus on in June in Washington during a second Summit on aircraft maintenance outsourcing” said Mitchell.