The U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's (DOT IG) office has announced it's conducting an audit into the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) oversight of maintenance issues at Allegiant Air and American Airlines.
The announcement comes one month after Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) requested an investigation following a troubling 60 Minutes report detailing Allegiant's checkered safety record.
The damning segment reported that Allegiant flights experienced more than 100 serious mechanical incidents between January 2016 and October 2017, including evacuations prompted by smoke in the cabin.
However, the airline responded by calling the report "misleading."
"The story is outdated, bears no resemblances to the Allegiant I know, and shows a real and troubling misunderstanding of the FAA's rigorous oversight of Allegiant and all U.S. airlines, which is truly the worldwide gold standard in transportation safety," Allegiant vice president of operations Eric Gust said in the statement.
The DOT IG will move forward nonetheless.
"Our objectives now are to assess FAA's processes for investigating allegations of improper maintenance practices at two carriers, Allegiant Airlines and American Airlines," the DOT IG wrote in a memorandum announcing the expanded audit. "Specifically, we will (1) examine FAA's independent reviews, complaints to the FAA hotline, and other sources to see whether inspectors conducting routine surveillance of Allegiant and American Airlines found similar discrepancies and (2) determine whether FAA ensures that Allegiant and American Airlines implement effective corrective actions to address the root causes of maintenance problems."
"The traveling public deserves to know the whole story when it comes to the FAA's oversight of airline maintenance," Nelson said in a statement reacting to the audit announcement. "I expect the inspector general to leave no stone unturned."
It's been nearly one year since DOT IG announced a review of the FAA's oversight of air carrier maintenance across the airline industry. However, it will now adjust the scope of its review to focus only on Allegiant and American.
"During our initial audit work, we visited two carriers and found that FAA had moved its oversight strategy from emphasizing enforcement actions to working with carriers to address the root causes for noncompliance of safety regulations," the office stated in Wednesday's memo. "We also found that the relationships and information-sharing practices between air carriers and their FAA oversight offices vary significantly. In addition, maintenance programs at air carriers are affected by differences in fleet mix and other operational considerations."
On top of its initial audit work, DOT IG said additional congressional requests have led it to change its approach and focus on the FAA's oversight of maintenance issues at Allegiant and American, specifically.
Wednesday's announcement also comes nearly one month after DOT fined Allegiant $250,000 for violating airline consumer protection rules by failing to provide disabled passengers with the required assistance within airport terminals.
The airline was also found to be negligent in its response to complaints filed by passengers with disabilities by failing to respond to complaints or properly reimburse affected travelers.
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