Following reporting by 60 Minutes and the Tampa Bay Times, U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) is demanding the U.S. Department of Transportation take action to improve passenger safety, reforming the FAA, and holding Allegiant Airlines accountable for past safety violations. Allegiant operates 95 percent of all flights at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport located in the Pinellas County district Crist represents.

Please find a copy of the letter attached and below:

April 16, 2018

Secretary Elaine Chao
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary Chao,

I write to you following extremely troubling reporting by 60 Minutes and the Tampa Bay Times regarding Allegiant Airlines.  These outlets paint a disturbing picture of an airline with a poor safety record, and a Federal Aviation Administration with lax enforcement. It calls into serious question whether both Allegiant and the FAA are doing all they can to put passenger safety first.

According to the Tampa Bay Times investigation, Allegiant aircraft are four times more likely to fail during flight as those operated by other major U.S. airlines.  The average rate of unexpected landings caused by mechanical problems for U.S. airlines is 3 for every 10,000 flights.  For Allegiant, the failure rate is 12.  In 2015, alone, Allegiant jets were forced to make unexpected landings at least 77 times for serious mechanical failures.  Yet, none of these safety incidents, nor the culture that fostered them, prompted enforcement action or fines from FAA.  Even after finding further problems with Allegiant’s maintenance paperwork – including a failure to report a mid-flight engine shutdown within a required time frame – FAA failed to hold the airline accountable.

Compounding the problem, in 2015 FAA implemented a “Compliance Philosophy” that devalues enforcement.  Since implementing this philosophy, enforcement actions have declined by 70%.  Airline operators and shareholders surely prefer this kinder, gentler FAA, but their profits must never come at the expense of passenger safety.  When airlines fall short in such a critical area, the FAA must put the people first and enforce the law. 

Finally, although the FAA requires airlines to fill out forms when planes have serious breakdowns, and to file monthly logs of failures that cause delays, diversions, or cancellations, they do not, as a matter of policy, compare these records across competitor airlines.  Comparing records is a common-sense way to flag outliers and identify warning signals before tragedy strikes.

While recent reports would indicate that Allegiant is moving in the right direction since coming under scrutiny by the Tampa Bay Times, the records that seem to indicate Allegiant’s progress rely on Allegiant self-reporting.  For an airline with ongoing safety issues and documented failure to self-report, I’m not convinced.  With social media that allows the people to document airline safety issues in real time and a 24-hour news cycle, FAA can and should rigorously monitor reporting compliance and faithfully enforce violations.

Both FAA and Allegiant have work to do to restore the people’s trust.  Please direct FAA to end the lax enforcement “Compliance Policy” for problem airlines.  I further request that FAA implement a system that allows incident reports to be compared across airlines.  Finally, FAA should take a tougher look at Allegiant in response to the Tampa Bay Times and 60 Minutes reporting, and hold the company to account for safety violations.  This life and death issue is of significant importance to my constituents as Allegiant operates 95% of flights at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport in my district.  I appreciate your attention.

Sincerely,

Charlie Crist
UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN