Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Dallas legislator contributed language to FAA inspection bill that passed in U.S. House Tuesday

By Pegasus News wire

On Tuesday, July 22, the House passed H.R. 6493, the Aviation Safety Enhancement Act of 2008, which included language authored by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. The language, incorporated into the Aviation Safety Enhancement Act, will prohibit an airline from hiring former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight standards inspectors who oversaw that airline while at the FAA, for a period of two years.

Photo not provided by Congressperson Johnson's office

Repairs such as these just won't fly anymore. Fly anymore. Get it?

In April, Congresswoman Johnson introduced H.R. 5880, which would have required the FAA to establish procedures to limit for one year a flight standards inspector from accepting certain employment positions or responsibilities with an air carrier for whom the inspector has conducted inspections or had oversight responsibility in the past.

“The Aviation Safety Enhancement Act strengthens the restrictions on post-FAA employment that I introduced in the spring,” Congresswoman Johnson said. “Earlier this year, FAA whistleblowers disclosed serious allegations that the public safety mission at FAA was being compromised. Even in the face of investigations substantiating wrongdoing and safety breaches, FAA does not appear to have held management and safety inspectors appropriately accountable for their actions. It has grown increasingly clear to me that personal relationships between FAA flight standards inspectors and air carrier employees have the potential to compromise the safety of the public. This is unacceptable. It is time to eliminate the revolving door between the FAA and the airlines, and this legislation attempts to begin that process.

“In addition to employment restrictions, the bill establishes an Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office with an independent Director, modifies the Agency’s customer service initiative, restricts the time a principal maintenance inspector may oversee a single carrier and increases scrutiny of the Agency’s air transport oversight system database,” Congresswoman Johnson continued. “I applaud the House for passing this important legislation.”

The bill passed by a vote of 391-0.

Source: Office of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson

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