By The Associated Press

Published: Saturday, February 16, 2013, 6:09 p.m.
Updated: Saturday, February 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — Since a deadly airline crash in 2009, the government has not kept its promise to ensure that major airlines are holding their smaller partners to the same safety standards, a federal watchdog says.

The Transportation Department's inspector general faults the Federal Aviation Administration for not taking steps to encourage the big airlines “to consistently share safety information and best practices” with regional airlines that operate flights under contract for them.

That business link is known as code-sharing, by which one airline sells tickets for seats on a flight operated by another airline — United and United Express, for example.

More than half of all airline flights in the United States are operated by regional airlines using names such as United Express, Delta Connection, American Connection and US Airways Express under code-sharing arrangements.

A flight operated by regional carrier Colgan Air for Continental Airlines under the name Continental Express crashed in February 2009 near Buffalo, killing 50 people. After that crash, officials at the department and the FAA said they would begin reviewing code-share contracts to see if they impinged on safety.

Investigators cited pilot training lapses by Colgan as a factor. Colgan ended flying in September as part of its parent company's restructuring.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation and congressional hearings after the Colgan crash pointed out the differences in safety cultures that sometimes occur between the two types of airlines.

For example, at that time, some regional carriers were hiring pilots with as few as 250 hours of flight experience, which FAA rules allow. Major airlines typically hired pilots with about 10 times that much experience.

After the crash, pilot unions and safety advocates said regional carriers were driven to cut corners on safety, including hiring inexperienced pilots at low wages, in part to meet performance goals required under the code-sharing contracts. Airlines that met their goals often earned more money under the agreements, while those that failed to meet such goals were sometimes penalized.

The FAA, despite earlier promises, is not reviewing any code-share contracts for their safety implications, and the Transportation Department reviews only a small share for their potential economic impact, not safety, the report stated.

“As a result, most domestic code-share agreements go into effect without being reviewed by any (federal) regulatory entity,” the report stated.

1. WVU baseball players spring into action in tornado-ravaged Oklahoma
2. Massive tornado roars through Oklahoma City suburb
3. Obama foundation won quick tax-exempt approval
4. Details of the Senate immigration bill
5. Fire chief says search almost complete in Oklahoma
6. 1 SEAL dead, 7 injured in training crash at Kentucky fort
7. Grim search, rescue efforts from twister near end in Oklahoma
8. Background checks ongoing fight for NRA
9. U.S. could seize 5 in Benghazi attack
10. Obama picks budget official to run troubled IRS
11. Powerball officials: 80 percent of number combinations picked

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.