Another day, another government organization with egg on its face
The grounding of the part of the Southwest Airline fleet on March 12 for maintenance, would have been huge news any other year than this current one. With the snailing economy, two wars, Elliot Spitzer's resignation, Democratic party in fighting, the collapse of investment banking, & the rising price of gas it is easy to understand how this was forgotten so quickly.
The recent decision by American Airlines, and Delta Airlines to ground part of their fleet for overdue maintenance. Has brought air travel concerns and the FAA consistent failure to protect the American Consumer to the forefront. The FAA lassie z Faire attitude was made apparent last week, when the New York Passenger Bill of Rights was deemed illegal by the federal courts.
As an American I expect the government organizations that the people give authority via congressional representation, to have the citizens best interest in mind. Everyone identifies that airlines respect for their paying customers has gone down in recent years, to the point that they can care less about their comfort. Why was it necessary for the NY legislator to pass a bill of rights, where was the FAA during this time. Do they not think passengers stranded deserve clean bathrooms, water, and food. The ticket prices should easily cover these cost, but the FAA couldn't care less about you and me.
A government audit of the FAA released in February found that:
U.S. aviation regulators have ``weaknesses'' throughout their system for overseeing quality control at aircraft manufacturers and suppliers, a federal inspector reported.
The grounding of the part of the Southwest Airline fleet on March 12 for maintenance, would have been huge news any other year than this current one. With the snailing economy, two wars, Elliot Spitzer's resignation, Democratic party in fighting, the collapse of investment banking, & the rising price of gas it is easy to understand how this was forgotten so quickly.
The recent decision by American Airlines, and Delta Airlines to ground part of their fleet for overdue maintenance. Has brought air travel concerns and the FAA consistent failure to protect the American Consumer to the forefront. The FAA lassie z Faire attitude was made apparent last week, when the New York Passenger Bill of Rights was deemed illegal by the federal courts.
"NEW YORK - A federal appeals court Tuesday (March 25, 2008) struck down a state law
requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to
passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but
stepped on federal authority...The law was passed after thousands of passengers
were stranded aboard airplanes for up to 10 hours on several JetBlue Airways
flights at Kennedy International Airport on Valentine’s Day last year. They
complained they were deprived of food and water and that toilets overflowed. A
month later, hundreds more passengers of other airlines were stranded aboard
planes at JFK after a daylong ice storm" (MSNBC.com)
As an American I expect the government organizations that the people give authority via congressional representation, to have the citizens best interest in mind. Everyone identifies that airlines respect for their paying customers has gone down in recent years, to the point that they can care less about their comfort. Why was it necessary for the NY legislator to pass a bill of rights, where was the FAA during this time. Do they not think passengers stranded deserve clean bathrooms, water, and food. The ticket prices should easily cover these cost, but the FAA couldn't care less about you and me.
A government audit of the FAA released in February found that:
U.S. aviation regulators have ``weaknesses'' throughout their system for overseeing quality control at aircraft manufacturers and suppliers, a federal inspector reported.
"Government auditors found ``widespread discrepancies'' at 20 of 21 suppliers, including miscalibrated tools, incomplete product testing and inadequate vendor supervision, a U.S. Transportation Department inspector general's report said today...The FAA doesn't ensure manufacturers regularly audit suppliers or routinely examine those audits, and it doesn't do enough of its own examinations of vendors, according to the report released in Washington...The FAA requires a maximum of four supplier audits, regardless of the manufacturer's size, the report found. FAA inspectors scheduled four supplier audits for a maker of crop- duster planes for two straight years and didn't perform any one year for suppliers of a major airline engine manufacturer."(Bloomberg.com, Feburary 29, 2008)
The FAA found about about the missed inspections by southwest airlines by a whistleblower inside the organization.
The whistleblowers said the FAA's chief inspector for Southwest allowed the airline to delay the repairs because of a "cozy relationship" with a former inspector hired by the company. One whistleblower was removed from his position after an "anonymous complaint." The other whistleblower claimed other inspectors friendly with the airline spied on his work by preparing a report about his use of Southwest's maintenance database, called Imagio. He says the other inspectors improperly shared the information with airline executives. "I asked myself why and who would they be discussing this with at SWA and for what purpose?" the inspector wrote. The FAA later removed two officials, including the chief inspector, after an internal investigation. (NBC Dallas/Fort worth)
The FAA has computers capable of handeling communications from all registered aircrafts at once, but fail to put in a system that could alert them of an overdue inspection? USA today had a similar report of lax oversight.
"FAA officials overseeing Southwest Airlines ignored safety violations, leaked sensitive data to the carrier and tried to intimidate two inspectors to head off investigations, according to previously undisclosed allegations by the inspectors."
Thank you FAA for worrying about the great people in this nation over your pocketbook. ASSHOLES!
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