Government report decries 'cozy' FAA for lax airline safety oversight

Following a spate of safety-related flight cancellations this spring, a report by a U.S. government watchdog agency criticizes the Federal Aviation Administration for lapses in its oversight of airlines and too-cozy relationship with certain carriers.

The findings just released by the U.S. Department of Aviation's inspector general state that "it appears FAA management fostered a culture whereby air carriers were considered the primary customer of its oversight mission instead of the flying public."

It urges the agency to adopt a list of recommendations for improvements.

The probe stems from whistle-blowers' complaints that the FAA and Southwest Airlines were lax in inspecting the fuselages of Southwest's Boeing 737 fleet for cracks.

Southwest reported to an FAA maintenance inspector in March 2007 it hadn't checked the fuselages as required. Although that should have triggered grounding the 737s so they could be looked at, the FAA official dropped the ball, authorities said.

As a result, 6 million passengers were carried for up to nine months in airplanes that were noncompliant, the report noted. When Southwest finally checked the aircraft, fuselage cracks were found in five, federal auditors said.

The airline was fined $10 million by the FAA. Subsequently, the agency called for safety audits of other carriers, leading to hundreds of fights being grounded at O'Hare International Airport and across the country this spring.

The inspector general's interim report on the controversy faults the FAA for allowing noncompliance issues to fester. The agency "promotes a pattern of excessive leniency at the expense of effective oversight," it concludes.

For example, it cites the fact a former FAA inspector took a job with Southwest Airlines as a regulatory compliance manager and dealt regularly with his former agency boss.

The inspector general recommends increasing oversight of inspections and redoubling efforts to ensure safety violations are corrected.

The report also suggests that FAA supervisory inspectors dealing with carriers be rotated and that an independent organization be set up to probe safety issues raised by employees because of concerns about insufficient protection for whistle-blowers.

In its response to the interim report, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the agency agreed with the findings and had already implemented most of the fixes.

But rotating supervisory inspectors is costly, difficult for employees and their families and would result in the loss of institutional knowledge, Cory said.

Regarding the independent organization, the FAA has said it only partially concurs with the recommendation because it already set up a system for employees to report safety concerns without fear of reprisals.

FAA leaders have defended the agency's record, telling a congressional committee recently it is safer than ever to fly.