Before April, airline safety and conditions appeared to be improving steadily as no commercial flights in the United States resulted in fatalities in 2010. But since the Southwest Airlines fiasco on April 1, in which a malfunction resulted in a 5-foot hole in a ceiling of one of the company’s Boeing 737s, the aviation industry has taken hit after hit.
Now that the House of Representatives has passed a bill that will eliminate $4 billion from the Federal Aviation Administration’s $36 billion, passengers will be subject to similar dangers every day.
The House alleges that the decision to cut funds to the FAA will not affect passenger safety. But as an article in Sunday’s New York Times points out, fewer funds means fewer safety inspectors. Safety inspectors are already rare, as exemplified by the fact that five Southwest planes have been taken in for repairs following the April 1 incident.
Although it’s commendable of the House to search for ways to reduce the federal deficit, it’s senseless to put lives on the line just to save money.
The F.A.A. is responsible for a multitude of necessary tasks – regulating pilot licenses, maintaining air traffic, enforcing safety regulations and ultimately keeping airlines in check. The organization has been criticized for fining airlines and pilots too heavily but it plays an important role in ensuring a cohesive relationship between workers and airlines or airports at large.
Thousands of Americans fly daily and depend on these services, so now shouldn’t be the time government should cut federal funds to the F.A.A. by such a wide margin.
There are components of the administration that could be modified or eliminated but room should be left for safety inspectors. House Chairman and House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., should consider the potential backlash of the decision to streamline the F.A.A. in light of accidents that could have been prevented with additional care.
Although no deaths resulted from Southwest’s flawed Boeing 737s, the F.A.A.’s defunding could result in tragedy for others.
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