On June 27, NPR ran an interview that disparaged the safety record of the airline industry while raising false and unproven safety concerns about the use of contract maintenance.

ARSA reached out to the program’s producers and requested an opportunity to set the record straight. The Association volunteered its senior staff for response and offered up interviews with members of ARSA’s speaker’s bureau, a cadre of aviation professionals that ARSA has identified as willing to speak on the record about contract maintenance.

In its response, ARSA highlighted the outstanding safety record of the airline industry while noting that the unprecedented level of safety is no accident; it’s the result of a commitment to safety by air carriers, manufacturers, and maintenance companies, and a complex system of government oversight.

The interview with Bill McGee, a consumer advocate who writes about the airline industry, paints an alarmist view of airlines’ safety record while neglecting the simple fact that we are living in the safest period in the history of aviation. McGee also raises concerns about foreign repair stations working on U.S. aircraft and implies that work done offshore is less safe and held to a different regulatory standard than work done by the air carriers themselves.

ARSA is continuing its outreach in response to this story and will continue to monitor the media and respond to reports that perpetuate a false and misleading picture of the maintenance industry’s contributions to civil aviation.

To view ARSA’s response click here.

~~~ posted 7/3/12 ~~~

More from ARSA