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The FAA is slowly addressing gaps in its air carrier maintenance oversight process, but shortcomings remain in staffing vacancies, inspector experience level, and support documentation, a Transportation Department (DOT) review concluded.
“FAA’s under-resourced inspections, low Certificate Management Office (CMO) inspector staffing levels, and ineffective workforce planning are insufficient to oversee safety risks,” the DOT Office of Inspector General (IG) report found.
The IG’s work is the latest in a series of air carrier audits that examine FAA oversight. The current report is based on the FAA’s oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance practices.
Many of the issues flagged by auditors are linked to staffing. The United CMO does not have enough people to provide informed oversight across the airline. The airline’s powerplant operation handles more than 2,000 engines, but the FAA has only two inspectors overseeing the work. One is slated to retire in 2026.
“The resulting knowledge gaps may significantly impact the CMO’s oversight responsibilities, and if key technical and institutional knowledge are not properly documented or transferred to newer employees it is at risk of being lost,” the report said.
Auditors also expressed concern over how the CMO handles conducting audits with its reduced staff. Instead of postponing audits by citing its “resources not available (RNA)” policy, inspectors are conducting many virtually. This has led to increased use of categorizing certain procedures on the audit list as “not observable,” because they require the inspector to be on-site.
FAA’s guidance calls for using “not observable” due to operational issues, such as being tasked with evaluating a de-icing process in the summer. Using it to complete virtual inspections is “improper” and prevents inspectors from gaining a full picture of the airline’s operation, the IG said.
The IG made six recommendations to the FAA based on its findings. Two of them focus on the “not observable” issue—inspectors need clearer guidance on how to use the term, and the FAA should “develop trend data linked to items flagged with it to help flag risks."
Three are linked to staffing improvements, including matching personnel—both the quantity and expertise—with a carrier’s fleet profile.
The final one focuses on teaching inspectors how to use airline safety management system (SMS) data to support their risk assessments.
The audit is the fifth in a series that began a decade ago to satisfy a congressional request. United was selected in part due to incidents it had in 2024 that prompted the FAA to conduct a Certificate Holder Evaluation Process (CHEP) audit, or periodic deep dive, into the carrier. The CHEP audit did not turn up any significant safety issues, the FAA said.
The FAA has addressed most of the issues flagged in the previous reports, the IG said. Leveraging SMS data properly continues to be a struggle for inspectors, the IG added—hence the new recommendation.
The FAA concurred with five of the recommendations and plans to address them by year-end. The agency noted that it has an official policy on using “not observable” in CMOs.
“However, FAA understands that additional emphasis and clarity from management on the intended execution of this policy will help clarify when the RNA threshold is met,” the FAA told the IG in comments on the report. “To achieve this, FAA will conduct a review of existing policy, guidance materials, and automation regarding surveillance and documentation” and make appropriate changes.
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