The Uncertain Oversight of Offshore Aircraft Maintenance: The Case of Australia

In the last twenty years, aircraft maintenance outsourcing hasdriven strong growth in the third-party Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility industry. In the United States, deficienciesin safety oversight and regulation have played a role in somemaintenance-related incidents. Since then, Congress wrote legislationto require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) toimprove its safety oversight, particularly of offshore facilities.However, there has been no such pressure driving improvementin Australia. Questions have been raised about the poor practicesin some offshore MRO facilities and about the safety oversightof offshored maintenance. This article argues that theexisting system, based on International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) standards, cannot provide certainty that the planesof Australian-registered airlines are maintained to best practicestandards. This is for two reasons: the regulations have gaps andenforcement of the regulations leaves much to be desired.