Comments on: Government finally begins shaking up airline maintenance in earnest

By: Charlie Leocha

Charlie Leocha — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:51:31 +0000

Until this year, there has not been an advocacy group that kept tabs on what DOT, FAA, the House committees and the Senate Committees are up to. Efforts have been shotgun and normally single-issue until this point.
Anytime journalists take the time to ask questions and encourage answers and actions by working through multiple channels, it cannot hurt our consumer efforts.
Yes, the administration is more consumer friendly, but the advent of consumer advocacy groups within the airline and transportation world is also having an effect.
In my time in Washington, the consistent comment from other associations like ASTA, NBTA and USTA as well as staffers and members has been, “It’s about time.”
We weren’t there to be ignored in the past. We did write about problems, but never made sure those issues made it directly to those responsible for action. We weren’t sitting in committee hearings. We were not writing directly to the bureaucrats who made regulations. We never had a dialog with Senate and House staffers. We never coordinated with other associations and interest groups. We were easy to ignore. Now, the Consumer Travel Alliance working to address these issues. I like to think we have had some minor effect.

By: Joel Wechsler

Joel Wechsler — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:17:39 +0000

I agree with Hapgood. If the FAA was not being pushed by the adminstration the advocacy groups, blogs and other media outlets would be ignored as they were in the past.

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:29:25 +0000

You’re right, Karen. It’s about time for airlines to “unbundle” the cost of maintenance, along with the cost of the fines imposed for violating regulations. So next time you book a ticket on American or USAir, look for new (unadvertised) fees for “maintenance” and “regulatory compliance.”

By: Karen C.

Karen C. — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:23:19 +0000

Hmmmm, when I see fines to airlines of that magnitude, my first thought is: they will pass that cost onto the consumer. Somehow I feel that the flying public will end up footing the bill for those fines. Am I wrong?

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:40:27 +0000

I think the change has less to do with advocacy groups than with the change in administration. The previous administration had a dogmatic belief in deregulation. The only appropriate role for government was to help favored corporations increase their wealth, so the FAA took a “laissez-faire” approach to assuring compliance with burdensome requirements like proper maintenance of aircraft. Since it was an Undisputed Fact that the Free Market does a much better job of ensuring safe flights than Big Government, the best thing the FAA could do was to stay out of the way.

Under the current administration, the FAA is simply restoring its intended regulatory role. Now that they’re auditing and inspecting like they’re supposed to, it seems the Free Market wasn’t doing such a good job after all. And maybe next they’ll take a look at the way the Free Market has been letting airlines reduce the quality of their service even as they keep adding sneaky new fees.