Auditors from the U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) will evaluate the FAA’s surveillance of United Airlines maintenance activity, flagging “recent safety events” as a catalyst for the move.
“Our objective will be to assess FAA’s oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance practices,” OIG said May 9. “Specifically, we will evaluate FAA’s actions to address maintenance non-compliances and violations at the air carrier.”
United’s front-line operators are already under stepped-up FAA surveillance following a series of incidents. The agency is ensuring the events, which ranged from a runway excursion to losing a wheel, are not linked to fundamental weaknesses in the airline’s safety and quality systems. The OIG audit will examine how effective the FAA has been at making sure United’s systems meet regulatory standards.
The DOT OIG, fulfilling a 2015 request from members of the House aviation subcommittee, launched a series of audits…