Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Representatives John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dan Donovan (R-NY) introduced the Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Disclosure Act of 2018 (H.R. 6028 S. 3026) earlier in June.
This bipartisan legislation requires public reporting of U.S. airline maintenance practices. The Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) endorsed the bill.
This bill would allow air travelers to know the location where heavy maintenance was performed, prior to purchasing their airfare. The bill would require airlines to list on their websites the cities and countries in which their aircraft undergo heavy maintenance. That same information also would be provided to consumers as they shop for flights, as well as on ticket confirmation and boarding passes.
“The American public deserves truth when flying. When deciding which airline to fly or which flight to buy, it shouldn’t be a privilege to know where airlines are maintaining their aircraft,” said John Samuelsen, TWU International president. “This legislation allows the flying public to make informed purchasing decisions, while supporting regulators’ efforts to ensure all aircraft maintenance work is held to a uniform high standard of safety and security.”
A series of Inspector General reports and a recent study from former-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge’s firm assert that foreign repair shops servicing U. S. aircraft are not held to the same level of scrutiny or standards as American shops. “Before someone buys a ticket or boards their flight, they ought to know when and where that plane was last serviced—and whether it was done here in this country by the finest mechanics in the world, or done abroad by foreign workers,” McCaskill said. “This is a commonsense step to give consumers some peace of mind.”
“We look forward to working these lawmakers to turn the Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Disclosure Act of 2018 into law,” Samuelsen said.