You could forgive the FAA for being confused on the outsourcing issue. While the GAO seems to be encouraging it, the other government watchdog that monitors the agency was sending a different message. Ken Mead, the Department of Transportation's Inspector General, testified before the Senate Transportation Committee that more and more airline maintenance is being outsourced and he said that means the FAA needs to step up its inspection of third-party maintenance facilities. He said outsourcing isn't the issue. "It is that maintenance, wherever it is done, requires oversight," he said. He said the FAA was warned two years ago about shortcomings with maintenance subcontractors and promised to increase inspections but has been slow to do so. Mead is particularly concerned about the increasing amount of maintenance being done in other countries.
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