Weaknesses in U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight led to long-term safety issues involving several airline maintenance programs, according to a report by a government oversight agency.
The report by the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) credited the FAA with taking positive steps to work more closely with the airlines on improving safety. Nevertheless, the report added that the OIG investigation “found that weaknesses in FAA’s oversight led to long-unresolved safety issues” at Allegiant Air, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
Because of those weaknesses, the FAA did not ensure that the three airlines had identified the basic causes of their non-compliance with certain agency requirements and had resolved related issues, the OIG report said.
In addition, the report said that the OIG’s investigations indicated that the FAA “is not fully prepared to evaluate whether air carriers are effectively assessi…
