Last year, the Open Skies Agreement, sparked some heated debate from both sides of the issue. The agreement was signed in Washington on April 30, 2007.
The topic caused much controversy primarily because opponents argued a change in rules that govern ownership of US Airlines. Currently, according to federal law, no US-owned airline is permitted to have foreign interests control more than 25% of its voting stock or more than one-third of its board of directors.
In addition, foreign investors may not currently exert "actual control" over any aspect of a U.S. airline by, for example, having a majority of votes on a board committee or a company president who is American but beholden to them.
US citizens must control an airline's safety, security, routes, fares — everything. To invite foreign investment and to pave the way for Open Skies, the DOT now proposes changing this rule so foreign investors could exert control over purely "commercial" decisions, such as fares and routes. (Emphasis mine)
Supporters argued that it would allow airlines to increase competition by making a trans-Atlantic market, already valued at $22 billion per year, more lucrative than it was and also add more flights, more convenient routes and cheaper fares across the Atlantic Ocean.
US labor leaders expressed fear that a foreign investment could threaten airline jobs at a time when tens of thousands of airline workers already have been laid off amid heavy losses and bankruptcies and also that US pilots, on trans-Atlantic flights, may be replaced with foreign pilots, or that more US jet maintenance could be farmed out to foreign companies.
Currently, a record amount of repair work is being outsourced to foreign repair stations that do not require FAA certification. Coinciding with this, the FAA has reduced the number of inspectors, forcing it to rely more on computer models instead of watching over mechanics' shoulders, inspecting their work.
This controversy has prompted two federal investigations and hearings on Capitol Hill.
Depending on where one sits, the result is either an increasingly dangerous set of conditions or a triumph of the efficiencies of global economics and emerging technology.
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"If the American people understood some of the safety and security issues surrounding foreign repair stations, they would march on Washington with pitchforks," Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) of Missouri said during a hearing last week.
Unbeknownst to many, US airlines have been outsourcing minor maintenance and repairs for quite some time. It increased in the 90s, outsourcing about 37% of the maintenance and repair work needed. After 9/11, with the industry in dire straits, this practice escalated significantly. The work now being outsourced is now at 64%.
While the FAA has no data to indicate how much of that outsourced work is done abroad, the inspector general of the Transportation Department concluded that it's a significant amount.
Moreover, these outsourced companies aren't just changing the oil, according to the inspector general of the Transportation Department. They're now undertaking crucial repairs on things like landing gear.
At these foreign repair stations, critics note, workers aren't required to go through periodic drug and alcohol testing, or to undergo background checks.
The outsourced companies aren’t subject to surprise spot checks by the FAA as maintenance companies in the US are. They, instead, are given 60 - 90 day notification that an FAA inspector will be doing an inspection.
There’s averaged to be 3 times as many uncertified outsourced repair stations than there are certified ones.
An International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers representative, Robert Roach, Jr., alleges that safety is being compromised. On the other hand, the FAA alleges that safety is not being compromised and notes there hasn't been a major airline crash since November 2001 and also states that of the few airline tragedies that have happened, only 8% were maintenance related.
The FAA states that in addition to the FAA-certified mechanics, the airlines' own mechanics check work when planes are returned. However during the hearing, Mr. Roach, of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, stated that what his members sometimes find is frightening.
"Our members have also seen aircraft return from repair facilities with the flaps rigged improperly, engine fan blades installed backwards, improperly connected ducting ... and over-wing-exit emergency slides deactivated," he says. "These aircraft had all been deemed airworthy by the repair stations."
The FAA inspectors union raised red flags as well, stating that the FAA hasn’t given them the resources necessary to properly oversee the work that’s either been outsourced or contracted out to privately owned US facilities. In addition, 50% of the current FAA inspectors will be eligible for retirement.
In the interest of improving safety, the FAA has become reliant on data analysis to identify potential problems that are able to be selectively inspected. It should be noted that some inspection stations go for years without oversight.