Air Transport

The US House of Representatives passed a bill requiring Federal Aviation Administration inspectors to wait two years before taking a job at an airline and having to deal with their former government supervisors.

The bill, which passed 392-to-0, would require a two-year ‘cooling off’ period before an FAA safety inspector assigned to a specific carrier can go to work for that airline.

It also mandates that an FAA principal maintenance inspector may not oversee the operations of a single airline for longer than five years.

The bill, HR 6439, sponsored by Transportation Committee chairman Jim Oberstar, now goes to the Senate.

Oberstar introduced the measure, which the committee’s senior Republican, John Mica, cosponsored, after problems at Southwest Airlines in March and April suggested a ‘revolving door’ problem.

The bill also creates an independent unit within the FAA to consider whistleblower complaints.

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news