PASS Update on Government Shutdown

Details: Published: October 15, 2013

Due to the shutdown and the furloughing of critical employees, 80 percent of FAA inspectors are not on the job today providing oversight of the commercial and general aviation industries, including domestic and foreign repair stations.

Meanwhile, there are no manufacturing inspections overseeing the building of aircraft parts; providing manufacturing approval and certification; or inspecting aviation mechanics, facilities, training programs and equipment. Computer specialists are not providing support through data analysis, networking and other areas critical to seamless operations. The shutdown is preventing the issuance of registration certificates for aircraft or airmen. And while technicians at the FAA are currently working nationwide and responding to outages of critical equipment, the FAA is operating under maintenance restrictions, which are stopping systems specialists from fully addressing air traffic equipment and system issues, which is resulting in reduced redundancy and restoration at many airports across the country.