WashingtonWire - 2005-06-20

DOT Inspector General Assails FAA Security Oversight
An independent government auditor charged the Federal Aviation Administration isn't doing enough to monitor safety in an airline industry wrestling with bankruptcies and cost-cutting. It also raised questions about whether inspectors understand the operation of low-cost carriers enough to effectively oversee the safety of their operations. "FAA still has a substantial amount of work ahead to improve its oversight systems, especially given the magnitude of changes air carriers are making and the pace at which the changes are occurring," Kenneth Mead, the Department of Transportation's Inspector General, said in a June 3 report. "There have been incidents related to the changes occurring in the industry that may be precursors to potentially more serious incidents." In particular, Mead said the agency lacks a consistent approach to monitoring maintenance performed for large carriers by outside contractors as a cost-cutting measure. For example, Mead said, FAA increased scrutiny of three airlines in or nearing bankruptcy without ramping up inspection of two others in similar financial straits. He also questioned whether the agency is adequately evaluating maintenance and safety checks performed by low-cost carriers, which stake their business model on fast turnarounds at the gate. FAA disagreed with most of the inspector general's findings. "The industry changes discussed in the report—financial stress, outsourced maintenance, operational changes driven by new marketing strategies, growth, night-time maintenance, perceived increases in ramp incidents—are not new and not insidious," the agency said. The Air Transport Association, the industry's trade group in Washington, D.C., said the inspector general's findings have little to do with airlines' incentives to maintain safety practices. "It should be understood that, whatever issues may or may not be impacting the FAA's safety oversight, FAA inspections are secondary to the robust quality assurance programs the airlines adhere to in overseeing all maintenance work," the group said in a statement. "As the inspector general's observations of industry safety performance confirm, those programs continue to produce the safety results the public expects."

U.S. Requires Machine-Readable Passports BY June 26...
All travelers to the United States from countries whose citizens entitled to visit without a visa must present a machine-readable passport effective June 26, the State Department said. The announcement ends an eight-month grace period during which immigration inspectors at U.S. ports of entry could grant a one-time entry for travelers arriving without a machine-readable passport. Airlines that deliver travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries without a machine-readable passport will face a $3,300 fine per violation. Machine-readable passports allow immigration officials to more quickly confirm the holder's identity and more easily stop fraud, officials said. U.S. law originally required visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries to present a machine-readable passport on Oct. 1, 2003, but 23 of the 27 Visa Waiver Program countries received a postponement until Oct. 26, 2004. Citizens of Visa Waiver Program countries who don't have a machine-readable passport must apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate to visit the United States, the State Department said.

...Postpones Biometric Passports Until Fall 2006
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week said it would postpone the deadline for the 27 countries in the Visa Waiver Program to begin issuing biometric "e-passports" containing integrated circuit chips by one year to Oct. 26, 2006. DHS also clarified that VWP countries are required to issue passports with digital photos by Oct. 26, 2005, and present to the Administration an acceptable plan to begin issuing e-passports within one year. The Travel Business Roundtable said 24 of the 27 VWP countries will be in compliance with the digital photo requirement by the Administration's October deadline, with only France, Italy and Austria still outstanding. "This is a major victory for the travel and tourism industry and our nation's economy," said TBR chairman Jonathan Tisch. Still, Loews Hotels chairman Tisch added, "We must come up with a reasonable solution that will allow for the 1. 3 million travelers from France, Italy and Austria who come to the United States each year to continue to do so." The National Business Travel Association also lauded the postponement. "Extending the deadline for the biometric passport requirement while continuing to move toward more secure passports is a great compromise," stated NBTA president Carol Devine. "This plan will protect the vital economic interest of the United States by ensuring that business travelers can come here from our main trading partners to do business."