=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/12= /11/BU186211.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 11, 2002 (SF Chronicle) FAA tightens oversight of safety/Agency to inspect planes more often, monit= or finances Pia Sarkar, Chronicle Staff Writer The Federal Aviation Administration is stepping up its enforcement of maintenance regulations at United Airlines, ensuring travelers that the financially ailing carrier remains safe to fly. Random inspections of United's planes will be increased as part of the FAA's efforts. The finances of the world's second-largest carrier -- including the salaries of maintenance workers -- also will be monitored. "We step up the oversight of a particular airline so nothing falls by the wayside," said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the FAA's Northwest Mountain regional office in Renton, Wash. The FAA will closely scrutinize United's maintenance, training, personnel and reporting systems -- a move that the agency typically takes with airlines experiencing any sort of a shakeup. Fergus said the FAA specifically looks at companies that have filed for bankruptcy -- as United did on Monday -- as well as those whose workers may be striking or whose finances are on the rocks. "It is not business as usual for the FAA when an airline is in financial trouble," Fergus said. Ratcheting up oversight of United is a preventive action, said Fergus, w= ho would not disclose any further details of the FAA's procedures. "We just want to make sure that whatever happens does not impact (safety)," he said. Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an aviation consulting and research firm in Evergreen, Colo., said the FAA's move is mainly intended to ease United customers' concerns about the airline. "It's mostly political," Boyd said. "They want to show the public that they're not going to let an airline in financial trouble cut corners." Historically, bankrupt airlines stay on top of safety regulations because slacking off proves to be more costly in the end. "That's the last place to cut corners," Boyd said. As for United, there is little worry that the company will allow safety lapses even while it goes through painful bankruptcy filings that could ultimately lead to job cuts in maintenance areas. "Cutting jobs does not mean cutting safety," said Joe Tiberi, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. "Bankruptcy filings would not change anything." "The last thing with United I'd worry about is their maintenance," Boyd added. "United is renowned for its safety." Vahid Motevalli, co-founder of the George Washington Aviation Institute = in Virginia, said the FAA's tighter enforcement of United will make the airline even safer than it was before. And while tighter enforcement of bankrupt airlines in the past has not turned up any significant breaches of safety regulations, Motevalli said it is still prudent for the FAA make the effort. "If the FAA were not to do it, they would be shirking responsibility," Motevalli said. E-mail Pia Sarkar at psarkar@sfchronicle.com.=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle