Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA): (1) ability to maintain airline safety standards in a deregulated environment; and (2) actions to correct weaknesses in its inspection program.

GAO found that FAA: (1) did not develop a system for monitoring deregulation's impact; (2) decreased its inspection force by 250 between 1981 and 1983, although it did not have staffing standards to provide a framework for determining how many inspectors it needed; (3) failed to collect inspection data and often did not identify major safety problems or ensure their correction through appropriate followup; (4) lacked guidelines concerning the needed frequency and scope of inspections; and (5) gave priority to certifying new airlines while existing airlines were experiencing safety compliance problems due to rapid growth and personnel turnover. GAO also found that FAA has begun to address these problems by: (1) increasing its inspector work force; (2) establishing minimum inspection standards; (3) improving its internal control and management information systems; and (4) instituting a National Inspection Plan (NIP), using specially assembled teams to inspect targeted airlines.