New US airlines suffer higher accident rates than those of established carriers, Congressional investigators say. Start-up carriers during their first five years of operation were also shown to have higher incident- and enforcement-action rates.
The US General Accounting Office says that the analysis highlights the need for better targeting of the US Federal Aviation Administration's inspection teams.
From 1990 until the end of 1994, US start-up airlines had an accident rate of 0.60 per 100,000 departures, compared with the established airlines' rate of 0.36. Of 200 accidents during the period 45 involved fatalities and, five of those 45 involved new airlines.
There were 2,879 incidents and 3,982 FAA-initiated enforcement actions during the period. New airlines suffered an average of 8.1 incidents per 100,000 departures, which was 52% higher than the established airlines' average of 5.4 incidents per 100,000 departures.
During their second and third years of operations, new carriers suffered incident rates twice the average of those of the established airlines. The new entrants also faced more FAA enforcement actions than did their more established rivals.
FAA officials believe that new entrants get into trouble because their fleets expand too fast. A shortage of cash may also be to blame. Out-sourcing of maintenance may lead to loss of oversight and other problems -a concern which, the FAA recently acknowledged in its review of ValuJet Airlines.
Source: Flight International
