FAA Criticized on Maintenance Oversight

A government report criticized federal oversight of airline maintenance and blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for not moving fast enough to correct the problem.

The Transportation Department inspector general criticized regulators for not requiring annual reviews of how the nation’s biggest airlines oversaw their own maintenance programs and for sometimes doing incomplete work when audits were performed.

The report cited apparent record-keeping and training shortfalls as well as practices that raised old questions about whether the relationship between the industry and the FAA was too close.