release

 

Summit to Examine Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing


The 21st century life-and-death issue for passenger safety & homeland security


RADNOR, PA, January 31, 2008--Business Travel Coalition (BTC) today announced the lineup of presenters for an Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Summit jointly sponsored with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to be held on Monday, February 11 in Washington, DC.

Airline industry experts have warned that current outsourcing practices pose a growing risk to the flying public of catastrophic aircraft failures or terrorist acts, due to degradation in both aircraft maintenance standards and governmental oversight.

The purpose of the Summit is to elevate a national discussion over the efficacy of current airline industry outsourcing practices. The Summit is designed to examine problems, secure stakeholder input and explore potential solutions. The venue is the Omni Shoreham Hotel; proceedings will begin at 9:00am and conclude at 12:30pm and be broadcast live over the Internet.

Presenters and contributors will include the following:

  • Deborah A. P. Hersman, Board Member, National Transportation Safety Board
  • Greg Feith, Former Senior Air Safety Investigator, National Transportation Safety Board
  • James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
  • John Conley, Airline Division Director, Transportation Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO
  • John Goglia, Former Board Member, National Transportation Safety Board
  • Kevin Mitchell, Chairman, Business Travel Coalition
  • Linda Goodrich, Vice President, Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS)
  • Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., Chairman, U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • Stacie H. Soumbeniotis, Democratic staff director, U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Steve Purvinas, Federal Secretary, Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA)
  • William McGee, Author, Consumer Reports: An Accident Waiting To Happen
  • More to be named later

Travel industry and government participants from some 25 states and other countries alike will be traveling to Washington for the Summit. Participants are slated to attend from every travel industry sector including  airlines, trade associations, corporate travel managers, U.S. government regulatory agencies, Members of Congress and their staff, aircraft maintenance companies, aircraft and engine manufacturing companies, consulting firms, banks and investors.

“Whether your corporate headquarters are in Chicago or London, your executives are flying on airlines around the world that may have outsourcing practices and government oversight programs that would make you concerned from a risk-management perspective,” stated BTC Chairman Kevin Mitchell. “What if a corporation has employees on a plane and a catastrophic maintenance-related event happens, as it did in a 2003 commuter crash in Charlotte, North Carolina? What are the moral obligations, risks and liabilities for a corporation that contracts with an airline when the corporate travel manager has knowledge that maintenance and government oversight standards are questionable? This is a duty-of-care issue for the global business travel community.”

To register for this Summit, click here. (http://tinyurl.com/2l796g) There are no registration fees, but seating is limited, so consider registering straightaway.  

Other important links follow. (The videos are about 5 minutes in length.)

Consumer Reports: http://tinyurl.com/2qwgzl (written)
Today Tonight Report (Part 1): http://tinyurl.com/2tqvqy (video)
Today Tonight Report (Part 2): http://tinyurl.com/2rkxjf (video)
CNN: http://tinyurl.com/2j75hy (video)