FAA to Blame for Airport Chaos, Officials Charge

WASHINGTON — A quarter-million travelers were stranded this week because the Federal Aviation Administration allowed "serious lapses" in safety practices to compound until planes had to be grounded, a federal watchdog told Congress on Thursday.

"Corrective actions are urgently needed" to fix the FAA's failings, Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel told the Senate aviation subcommittee.

Subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the FAA's "lax oversight" of the airline industry during the Bush administration has created "a perfectly dreadful situation."

The hearing came as American Airlines canceled more than 900 flights, raising the total to more nearly 2,500 since Tuesday. Delta Air Lines and other carriers canceled a smaller number of flights. The airlines estimate that the flights would have carried at least 100 passengers apiece on average, meaning that more than 250,000 have been inconvenienced.

The groundings followed the FAA's recent safety audit at 117 airlines, which it launched after its inspectors publicly proclaimed concerns about potential problems. For example, they said Southwest Airlines continued flying 46 jets without required inspections.

At a House committee hearing last week, the whistleblowers said the FAA had become far too friendly with airlines, treating them as "customers" who must be kept happy.

At Thursday's Senate hearing, Tom Brantley, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union representing inspectors, echoed that characterization. "The agency has become so focused on working in partnership with the airlines that it has allowed its safety mission to become a lower priority, in many cases ignoring warnings from its own inspector work force," he said.

FAA Associate Administrator Nicholas Sabatini said the agency does make safety "our No. 1 priority," but conceded the whistleblowers had uncovered real problems. For example, they reported that some airlines were "cherry-picking" which FAA employees would be allowed to examine their aircraft.

Sabatini said that when he learned of such practices, he was "outraged." When it comes to safety, the agency has "achieved 99 percent compliance, but it's the other 1 percent that keeps me up at night," he admitted.

The agency's promises to correct its problems did not impress Rockefeller.

"The American people put their trust in you all," Rockefeller said. "In recent weeks, that trust has been put to a severe test."

Scovel urged the FAA to make "immediate and comprehensive" changes, especially to the practice of allowing airlines to dodge penalties by voluntarily disclosing potential safety problems to regulators. "We are concerned that FAA relies too heavily on self-disclosures and promotes a pattern of excessive leniency at the expense of effective oversight and appropriate enforcement," he said.

He called for the establishment an independent board to review whistleblower complaints.

Basil Barimo, vice president of the Air Transport Association, an industry group, said the rash of flight cancellations should not alarm passengers. "While airlines realize how unsettling the news about maintenance and regulatory oversight practices has been lately, the unchangeable reality is that airlines have delivered the safest period of flying that our industry has ever experienced," he said.

Separately, a group of senators renewed calls for a "passengers' bill of rights." Such legislation, which has been languishing for two years, would require airlines to supply food and water to travelers stranded for hours on the tarmac. It would not cover passengers stuck in airports.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Congress should at least help travelers trapped inside planes. "We need to set some basic standards of care for our passengers," Boxer said.