Northwest Mechanics Applaud Legislation to Tighten Security at Foreign Aircraft Repair Stations

Business Wire, Nov 24, 2003

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2003

Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) Local 33, serving Northwest and Mesaba Airlines, today applauded 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.