The FAA has been under intense pressure from the U.S. Congress of late, and some believe that the reaction to Congressional pressure to tighten up FAA oversight of the aviation industry is a direct cause of the thousands of airline groundings last month. The problems that resulted in the groundings centered on compliance with FAA airworthiness directive (AD) and maintenance requirements, yet it appears that some of these problems were discovered only because of FAA inspectors’ additional scrutiny of the airlines. During a congressional hearing held on April 3, FAA leaders were strongly criticized for a too-cozy relationship with the industry that they oversee, resulting in some Southwest Airlines flights having been conducted outside AD compliance requirements.
In the Southwest Airlines case, problems centered around compliance with an AD calling for inspections for airframe structural cracking. Southwest executive chairman Herb Kelleher explained the source of the problem during testimony at the April 3 House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight and investigations hearing on “Critical Lapses in FAA Safety Oversight of Airlines: Abuses of Regulatory ‘Partnership Programs.’”
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