Last month the FAA finalized its rule changes dealing with pilot work and rest hours to keep fatigued pilots out of the cockpit. Ned Levi examines the new rules to see if they fulfill Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s promise to “do everything possible to make sure pilots are rested when they get in the cockpit.”
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The FAA has required all US airlines disable the emergency oxygen devices in aircraft lavatories due to what they have called “security concerns.” Ned Levi examines the potential passenger safety consequences of that action and asks whether the FAA couldn’t have required a considerably safer solution.
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While the American public has been forced to produce picture ID cards in order to fly from any public airport in the country, pilots are still using ID cards that Representative Mica likens to a “Cracker Jack prize paper identification.” Even with a Congressional mandate, the FAA has still, after 6 years, not managed to create a photo/tamperproof/biometrically-enabled ID card.
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This is the first in a series of articles about my work for travelers through the Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA). This organization is a tax-exempt non-profit, so any donations are fully tax deductible. We have been working in Washington, DC, for about a year now and have had some significant successes. Anyone who has worked [...]
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As our government studies the uneven safety standards and differences in pilot training programs between mainline and regional airlines, both American and United airlines announced new code-shared flights that confuse and mislead the flying public. The FAA must say enough! There needs to be a freeze on additional regional airline contracts until the FAA can bring a unified safety structure into place.
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Sometimes federal agencies get a wake-up call and go into overdrive. It seems that the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is in just such a mode these days. They have just fined American Eagle millions of dollars. They are investigating that airlines parent company, American Airlines, for “repeated maintenance discrepancies.” And they are actively scrutinizing Southwest Airlines’ maintenance records and procedures.
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The Department of Transportation (DOT) seems to have finally awakened to the reality that if airlines don’t feel any pain, they aren’t motivated to change. After years of cozy inspector/inspected relationships, the federal government department responsible for airline safety seems to mean business. Big fines are flying and the airlines are being called out.
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The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that the top-two managers of an air traffic control facility in Dallas-Fort Worth had been removed from their jobs.
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Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said late last week that federal regulators and American Airlines must explain why so many travelers had their flights canceled last week during safety inspections.
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The cozy world of the airline industry and its regulators is coming under increasing scrutiny.
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