Cites Legislation to Tighten Security at Foreign Aircraft
Repair Stations
Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal
Association (AMFA) Local 33, serving Northwest and Mesaba Airlines,
has joined the many organizations expressing approval of recent
Congressional legislation aimed at making security at foreign
aircraft repair stations as stringent as in the U.S.
The FAA Reauthorization omnibus bill, passed last Friday by the
Senate after prior House passage, and expected to be signed quickly
into law by President Bush, includes a provision requiring
employees of foreign repair stations who work on U.S. aircraft to
undergo drug and alcohol testing at the same level as domestic
airline maintenance workers. Foreign repair stations also will be
subject to security audits and inspections without notice, just as
U.S. airline maintenance facilities are today.
According to the reauthorization bill, within 90 days the FAA
must send Congress a plan to increase oversight of foreign repair
stations that perform maintenance on U.S. aircraft. Within 240
days, the FAA needs to finalize regulations applying to foreign
repair stations. The FAA then has 18 months in which to conduct
reviews of all these foreign repair stations. If a foreign repair
station fails to correct security issues within 90 days of
notification, its certificate to repair U.S. aircraft will be
suspended.
"These new security regulations are
crucial for the safety and integrity of the air travel industry.
AMFA has been pushing hard for this since September 2001," said
Steve MacFarlane, AMFA Local 33 legislative committee
representative.
MacFarlane said the next step is to ensure that aircraft
maintenance at foreign repair stations is as thorough as in the
U.S. "The FAA needs the resources to keep up with both security and
maintenance quality at these foreign facilities."
"What we have at the present time is a very different set of
standards for foreign repair stations than are in effect for
domestic stations," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), in presenting
an amendment to the Senate bill on behalf of himself and others,
including Minnesota's Mark Dayton. "In foreign stations, for
example, there need not be drug and alcohol testing. In foreign
stations, there are not the kinds of requirements and regulations
as to the maintenance of safety, and there are no requirements as
to security."
"We're very pleased that Congress has dealt with the security
issue," MacFarlane said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), under its existing
authority for U.S. aircraft overseas, will handle enforcement of
the new regulations. "With appropriate funding, we believe the FAA
will do a good job enforcing these important new security
regulations," he added.
Northwest Airlines outsources a portion of its aircraft
maintenance work to foreign repair stations in Singapore, mainland
China and elsewhere. A report from Philippine intelligence
concluded that Singapore remains "a perfect target" for terrorist
attacks against American businesses, despite the foiling of Al
Qaida-related plots that included a planned attack on the
international airport, and spying by a senior aircraft
mechanic.