Critical safety and security flaws in airplane maintenance outsourcing

A recent study found that airlines outsourcing their maintenance work could prove to be a major security gap and result in unreliable planes.

The study conducted by the Transport Workers Union found that when major U.S. airlines outsource their work they have little training, oversight, or safety measures in place to ensure that the workers they hire perform quality work and do not pose a security threat.

Their study found that at least one member of al-Qaeda was working in a major maintenance facility in Singapore in 2003.

The report stated, “While billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of work hours are devoted to screening passengers, comparatively little effort is made to check on a much smaller group of people who play a critical role in airline safety: the workers who repair and maintain the aircraft of U.S.‐based airlines.”

In addition to lapses in security, TWU worries that the lack of training and certification could result in shoddy airplane repair work.

James C. Little, the president of TWU International, said that poor quality standards in aircraft maintenance could be very dangerous.

“There’s no room for error in the airline industry,” he said.

Little went on to say, “But we’re not playing on a level field - not when work at outsourced facilities overseas can avoid the certification of mechanics, background checks, and alcohol and drug testing that are a regular feature of TWU workplaces.”

Following the 9/11 attacks, airlines struggled to stay afloat and many began outsourcing their maintenance work to cut costs.

Throughout the 1990s, the majority of airplane maintenance was done in the United States, but now more than $4 billion of work, roughly 30 percent, is outsourced.

The report indicated that “a significant amount of wide-body aircraft are currently being sent to China, Singapore, India and Central America, where the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) lacks resources to adequately oversee repair work.”

The TWU study found that there were critical shortages in FAA inspectors at overseas facilities with only 100 inspectors spread across 700 aircraft repair stations outside the United States. In contrast, “there are approximately 4,000 FAA inspectors for 4,200 aircraft repair stations,” in the United States.

The report warns that “Inadequate oversight, strained government resources and lack of consistent application of standards have created an alarming lack of uniformity in the critical area of aircraft maintenance and repair.”

The TWU study was released just days after a Southwest operate Boeing 737’s roof ruptured in mid-flight opening a five foot gap and depressurizing the cabin. None of the passengers were hurt and the plane safely made an emergency landing.

Emmanuel Thorne, the chairman of the Economics Department at City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, who studies U.S outsourcing issues, believes that many firms, including the airlines, are sending work overseas specifically to avoid costly safety regulations.

Thorne said, “There is considerable evidence that many firms, indeed entire industries, seek to gain a competitive advantage by outsourcing abroad their productive activities, mainly to take advantage of lower standards of regulation or lower levels of enforcement.”

He added, “Outsourcing airline maintenance to avoid appropriate FAA regulation may be one such instance.”