Federal watchdog faults FAA oversight of United Airlines maintenance practices

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance practices is hindered by low staffing, ineffective workforce training and hurdles to accessing air carrier data, a federal watchdog said on Friday.

The U.S. Transportation Department Office of Inspector General announced the audit of the FAA’s supervision of United in early 2024 after the FAA boosted oversight of the airline following a series of safety incidents.

OIG said Friday the FAA’s oversight is “insufficient to oversee safety risks” and the agency has at times conducted inspections virtually, rather than postponing them, due to a lack of inspectors.

United declined to comment.

The report found the FAA office overseeing United Airlines had vacancies in 33% of positions and has been hit by high turnover.

“Failure to timely fill position vacancies and plan for impending retirements has left the (FAA United office) understaffed and ill-equipped to fulfill its surveillance responsibilities,” the report found.

FAA’S BOEING 737 INSPECTIONS UNDERMINED BY STAFFING CRUNCH

The FAA referred questions about the findings to a letter it sent to the OIG that was included in the report.

In the letter, the FAA told the OIG it “will implement a more systemic approach to strengthen inspector capacity and will take other measures to ensure that staffing levels remain sufficient to meet surveillance requirements.”

The FAA in October 2024 said it found no significant safety issues in a review of United Airlines and ended its enhanced oversight and approval process for the carrier to add aircraft and services.

The FAA has been forced to use inspectors assigned to other aircraft to accomplish oversight of approximately 521 Boeing 737 airplanes – including the MAX 8 and 9 – that make up over half of United’s total fleet, since the agency has just four inspectors assigned.

By contrast, the FAA has three inspectors assigned to Boeing’s 767 fleet, which is only 53 airplanes.

“The resources are not sufficient to accomplish all required surveillance on the Boeing 737 fleet,” the OIG said.

OIG previously criticized the FAA’s oversight of other airlines, while the National Transportation Safety Board in January found systemic failures by the FAA led to the January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter that killed 67.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Joe Bavier)