Cheap airplane tickets or discount travel packages mean nothing if the planes travelers are flying on are not properly maintained. American Airlines mechanics union is kicking off a publicity campaign to make passengers aware of airlines performing airplane maintenance overseas. They think this information should influence passengers decisions as to which airline to fly on.
American Airlines does all of its plane maintenance in the US, but this is not true of all of its US competitors. Several airlines, including Delta and Southwest Airlines, send planes to overseas repair facilities. According to the inspector general of the Transportation Department, US oversight of repair facilities is lagging.
Union members have started handing out leaflets to Senate members to heighten their awareness of this issue because the Senate is working on an FAA bill than would, if passed, require more inspections of some overseas maintenance facilities. In 2010 the union plans to pass out leaflets at airports and pay for ads in newspapers in hub cities of airlines that do maintenance work outside the US.
Americans mechanics union wants to see the same oversight for all maintenance done on US planes, regardless of where that maintenance takes place. Otherwise, it is difficult for American workers to be competitive and airplane safety may be compromised.