FAA Continues to Face Challenges in Implementing a Risk-Based Approach for Repair Station Oversight

Over the past 15 years, major U.S. air carriers increased spending for contract maintenance by nearly $2.7 billion. Industry experts expect this trend to continue as airlines increasingly attempt to cut maintenance costs and maximize profitability. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for overseeing nearly 4,800 aircraft repair stations used worldwide by U.S air carriers. In July 2003 and September 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported that FAA’s oversight did not ensure that work completed at repair stations met FAA standards, and OIG made recommendations aimed at improving this oversight. In response to OIG's 2003 report, FAA implemented a new process intended to provide comprehensive, standardized, and risk-based oversight of repair stations. At the request of the former Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, OIG evaluated the Agency’s progress since its last review. Specifically, OIG (1) determined whether FAA’s oversight includes accurate and timely risk assessments of repair stations, and (2) evaluated the effectiveness of FAA’s oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations. Briefly, FAA developed a risk assessment process to aid repair station inspectors in identifying areas of greatest concern. Despite FAA’s efforts, its oversight emphasizes completing mandatory inspections instead of targeting resources to where they are needed based on risk. FAA’s oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations lacks the rigor needed to identify deficiencies and verify that they have been addressed. This is because FAA inspectors typically do not use comprehensive and standardized procedures for conducting inspections and reporting inspection findings, resulting in inadequate and inconsistent inspection practices.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/FAA%20Repair%20Station%20Oversight%5E5-1-13.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Department of Transportation

  Office of Inspector General, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Publication Date: 2013-5-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Tables;
• Pagination: 33p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft operations; Domestic transportation; Implementation; Inspection; International transportation; Maintenance facilities; Oversight; Risk assessment
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Maintenance and Preservation; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01482110
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: AV-2013-073
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: May 23 2013 2:52PM