McCaskill Introduces Proposal to Bring Transparency to Airline Maintenance for Consumers
With heavy maintenance increasingly occurring abroad, Senator’s legislation would require airlines disclose location of maintenance
WASHINGTON – Following her years-long effort to improve security and transparency for airline consumers, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill has introduced legislation that would require airlines to disclose the location where heavy maintenance is performed on aircraft, providing consumers greater transparency as these repairs are increasingly done outside the United States.
“Before someone buys a ticket or boards their flight, they ought to know when and where that plane was last serviced—and whether it was done here in this country by the finest mechanics in the world, or done abroad by foreign workers,” McCaskill said. “This is a commonsense step to give consumers some peace of mind.”
McCaskill’s legislation, the Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Disclosure Act, would require airlines to plainly state on their websites the cities and countries in which their aircraft undergo heavy maintenance. That same information also would be provided to consumers as they shop for flights, as well as on ticket confirmation and boarding passes. Bipartisan companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives.
A recent report showed that in 2016, 24 percent of heavy aircraft maintenance for domestic airlines was sent to off-shore foreign repair facilities—a three-fold increase since 2003. U.S. aviation maintenance facilities are required to have at least one federally licensed mechanic; employees must pass drug and alcohol screening, background checks, and threat assessment tests; and facilities are subject to unannounced federal inspection. Foreign repair stations do not share the same rigorous safety policies.
McCaskill has long championed efforts to improve security at foreign repair stations and hold them to the same standards as domestic facilities. In 2016, McCaskill successfully passed into law a requirement for drug and alcohol testing as well as pre-employment background checks for employees working on U.S. aircraft at agency-certified foreign repair stations. McCaskill has consistently fought to address the security and safety issues associated with outsourcing airline maintenance. Her provision to beef up aviation safety standards at foreign repair stations was included in previous federal aviation legislation.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/
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