FAA Criticized In Report on Airplane Parts

[douglas9]

Source: Washington Post

Passengers have flown on jetliners built with "substandard" parts, some of which may have been made in foreign countries, because the Federal Aviation Administration lacks an adequate system for checking the quality of airplane components, according to a federal oversight report.

The parts for commercial airliners such as the Boeing 727 and 737 were once manufactured almost exclusively in the United States. But the parts on today's big jets, such as Boeing's 777 and its planned 787, are made in such countries as China, Japan, Brazil, Italy, France and Australia, in addition to the United States. Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, GE and other plane manufacturers buy parts made overseas largely because they are cheaper.

But the bargain-hunting has come at a price, according to a new report by the Transportation Department's inspector general.

"Neither manufacturers nor FAA inspectors have provided effective oversight of suppliers; this has allowed substandard parts to enter the aviation supply chain," reads the report, dated Feb. 26. The agency released the report yesterday after it was made public by the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit organization that focuses on government accountability.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022903544_pf.html

[nightrider767]

1. It's not only the FAA's fault

The FAA is a government agency, which means they can't do anything right.

The responsibility here lies squarely with the airlines, like so many other large corporations, hate American labor. It not only the substandard parts but also the heavy maintenance inspections, which are now often done over-seas.

Now in the airlines defense, they do have a good amount of price pressure on them, and they must keep costs down. But it's a trend, an infection in American business with no good answers in sight.

Our country had become so incredibly efficient with the outsourcing that we've gutted our own infrastructure.