FAA fails to resolve persistent issues with SkyWest maintenance, audit says
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration has failed to resolve persistent issues with SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Airlines’ maintenance practices, a government report said Thursday.
The Transportation Department Office of Inspector General said SkyWest, the largest U.S. regional airline that operates flights for United Airlines , Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), and Alaska Airlines, said FAA safety inspectors have been unable to fully resolve issues pertaining to remote return to service maintenance practices for more than four years.
SkyWest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The audit said FAA inspectors found that SkyWest was "inappropriately deferring maintenance for minimum equipment list items, dispatching aircraft for flights without required inspections, and using pilots to perform maintenance tasks not approved in SkyWest’s maintenance manuals."
Since 2021, the FAA has been working to resolve 32 issues at SkyWest. The report said at the time of the IG’s analysis, the FAA had resolved 26 issues but noncompliance persisted with SkyWest’s remote return to service maintenance practices.
Even though several FAA inspectors identified similar systemic hazard issues, the agency did not initiate a systemic risk review until two years after issues were found.
The report said FAA inspectors were frustrated their efforts
were being delayed "and concerned that the airline’s remote maintenance practices could contribute to an accident."
The FAA said it agrees with six of the seven recommendations and plans to implement them by July 2026. The FAA said it agreed delays in submissions can hinder safety assessments.
In March 2020, an accident in New York revealed pilots were
performing unauthorized maintenance procedures, the report said, adding in 2023, remote return to service maintenance actions may have resulted in flights that did not meet FAA safety or
requirements.
The report cited an aircraft released for flight without a required operational altimeter and another flight that included an improperly deferred fuel fault advisory message.
