Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993 TAG: 9303250056
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
REPAIR RECORDS FALSIFIED AT USAIR
USAir supervisors at two airports falsified records to cover plane repairs that weren't done, the ailing airline says.Mechanics' allegations of broader abuses are under government investigation.
USAir described the problems as "confined." But an airline watchdog group called any violation "unacceptable" because of the public safety issues at stake.
Investigations show:
A USAir maintenance supervisor in Charlotte, N.C., acknowledged he allowed a jet to fly with a defective warning system - to save the airline money, he said. The carrier suspended and demoted the employee.
At Indianapolis, USAir said it had found a "small handful" of similar problems at its maintenance center but also said the repairs involved such things as water systems that did not affect flight safety.
The company says it plans to take disciplinary action against two foremen in Indianapolis who signed for repairs that weren't done or signed repair records that should have been signed by mechanics under them.
"We view this as a serious problem," USAir General Counsel Jim Lloyd said in an interview at the airline's headquarters in suburban Washington. "But I think we've got a pretty good handle on it. . . . It is confined and it does not involve things that affect flight safety."
Battered by the weak economy and last summer's fare wars, USAir has lost more than $600 million since 1991. Last week, the Clinton administration gave British Airways permission to invest $300 million in badly needed cash in USAir, America's sixth-largest carrier.
The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits any airline supervisor from signing for repairs that aren't complete - a practice known in the industry as "pencil-whipping" - and instances of such violations are considered "very rare," said agency spokesman Fred Farrar.
The only other instance involving a major airline was in 1991 when now-defunct Eastern Airlines was fined $3.5 million after it was learned its managers were forcing mechanics to falsify repair records to save money.
Lloyd said there was little comparison between USAir and the widespread abuses at Eastern. "One thing this management does not do is condone any variation from prescribed practices. We don't want any - zero tolerance," he said.
He said USAir had aggressively investigated all of its maintenance facilities over the past six weeks and found no current problems beyond Indianapolis. Last year's problem in Charlotte was eliminated, he said.
USAir maintains a light-maintenance facility at Roanoke Regional Airport. Five aircraft - including three jets - undergo maintenance checks each night at the Roanoke facility, airline officials said.
Farrar confirmed that the FAA is investigating allegations of maintenance violations in Indianapolis. He declined to confirm investigations or allegations at any other sites.
Three senior mechanics, who spoke to the Associated Press only on condition they not be named, said FAA investigators recently have been at Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Greensboro, N.C. The mechanics allege maintenance violations have occurred in all three locations:
In Pittsburgh, a supervisor who was not qualified to do so signed off in January on repairs to a bleed-fault indicator, which signals problems with valves controlling pressure in a plane's cabin or fuel tanks. Lloyd said the airline's investigation did not turn up any such problems in Pittsburgh.
In Greensboro, a maintenance foreman threatened to punish mechanics if they didn't sign off on certain repairs that weren't performed. Lloyd denied that allegation, saying it was a case of angry mechanics making exaggerated complaints about a young and aggressive foreman "who didn't exhibit the people skills that he needed for the job."
The mechanics blamed the maintenance problems on middle managers' desire to help cut costs at USAir. The mechanics said they had no evidence the activities were sanctioned in any way by corporate headquarters.
The FAA has raised questions about the mechanics' union since its members temporarily walked off the job last fall after being asked to accept wage concessions.
In a Feb. 16 memo to air traffic controllers at Pittsburgh International Airport, an FAA official said the USAir Machinists are still "disgruntled" and were "attempting to slow down aircraft operations," including deicing of planes.
Tom O'Mara, president of the Ralph Nader group Aviation Consumer Action Project, said airlines maintenance violations are "unacceptable behavior."
If airlines lack a quality control system for detecting maintenance abuses and have to depend on whistle-blowing employees, O'Mara added, "we're talking about a system that is . . . seriously flawed."
Staff writer Daniel Howes contributed to this story.