Business | Aviation
US audit reveals flaws in planemaker oversight
US aviation regulators have 'weaknesses' throughout their system for overseeing quality control at aircraft manufacturers and suppliers, a federal inspector reported.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:47 March 3, 2008
Washington: US aviation regulators have 'weaknesses' throughout their system for overseeing quality control at aircraft manufacturers and suppliers, a federal inspector reported.
Government auditors found "widespread discrepancies" at 20 of 21 suppliers, including miscalibrated tools, incomplete product testing and inadequate vendor supervision, a US Transportation Department inspector general's report said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which monitors manufacturers for compliance with safety and design specifications, doesn't take into account how much of the work is outsourced to suppliers, often overseas, the report said. Vendors provide 60 per cent to 70 per cent of parts in Boeing Co's new 787 Dreamliner, for instance.
"We found weaknesses throughout FAA's oversight system for manufacturers and their suppliers," the report said.
The FAA doesn't ensure manufacturers regularly audit suppliers or routinely examine those audits, and it doesn't do enough of its own examinations of vendors, according to the report released in Washington.
Auditors visited five manufacturers - Boeing, General Electric Co., United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier Inc. and Rolls-Royce Group Plc - and 21 suppliers, such as Eaton Corp., Honeywell International Inc. and Alcoa Inc.
More complex
"The aviation business has become more complex," FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said. "The inspector general wanted to ensure that the FAA was keeping up with changes in the industry, and we are."
The agency relies on manufacturers to ensure the safety of work done by suppliers, and it is deploying a new system to ensure it focuses on the greatest risks, Duquette said.
Manufacturers will examine the report "with great interest" to see if changes are needed, said Michael Romanowski, vice president of civil aviation for the Aerospace Industries Association.
"Manufacturers as a whole take their quality assurance responsibilities very seriously," said Romanowski, whose Arlington, Virginia-based trade group represents companies such as Boeing, GE and United Technologies.
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