Report claims FAA dismisses majority of whistleblower complaints
January 9, 2025
A report in the Seattle Times has found that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dismisses the majority of whistleblower complaints it receives.
The findings emerged in the wake of several high-profile Boeing failures, where whistleblowers exposed the company’s resistance to addressing worker concerns and highlighted the FAA’s insufficient regulatory oversight.
The Seattle Times examined FAA reports submitted to Congress between 2020 and 2023, revealing that the agency’s whistleblower system is “overwhelmed” and “delivering underwhelming results for whistleblowers.”
Majority of complaints dismissed
Out of 728 safety complaints filed, only 62 cases (8.5%) led to findings of violations. Additionally, nearly 40 % of complaints were dismissed before reaching the fact-finding phase and approximately 90 % of safety complaints concluded without any FAA-identified violations, despite whistleblowers risking their personal and professional reputations to report their concerns.
The article states that the FAA often dismisses whistleblower complaints during preliminary reviews for reasons such as insufficient information to investigate, duplicated allegations already under investigation, or lack of evidence for retaliation claims. “It’s impossible to know how many of the hundreds of complaints the FAA summarily dismisses each year are in fact meritless,” the Seattle Times noted.
One highlighted case involves Santiago Paredes, a former quality inspector at Spirit AeroSystems’ Witchita plant, where large sections of Boeing aircraft are manufactured. Paredes recounted how his relentless reports of manufacturing defects at the company went ignored and saw him labelled a “showstopper”. Fearing these unresolved issues could result in an aircraft incident, he chose to leave his job to “restart his life elsewhere without Spirit in it.”
Paredes faced further challenges after his departure. Over a year after leaving Witchita he said someone from Spirit AeroSystems contacted the quality director at his new workplace alleging that Paredes was a mole. “They were trying to impact my employment, my income… It made it hard to go to work, the rumours on the floor,” he told The Seattle Times.
Whistleblower advocates
Advocates for whistleblowers argue that the FAA’s appeals process is flawed. According to the Seattle Times, the FAA describes the process as “independent.” However, whistleblower attorney, Tom Devine, disagrees, noting that the FAA administrator serves as the final authority on investigations – a system uncommon among federal agencies. Other advocates suggest that oversight bodies often succumb to the influence of the industries that they are meant to regulate.
While the FAA describes its in-house whistleblower appeals process as “independent”, that’s a misnomer, according to whistleblower advocates familiar with the system.
Whistleblower attorney, Tom Devine, told the Seattle Times that unlike most federal agencies, the programme relies on the FAA’s administrator as the final authority on its investigations. Meanwhile other advocates maintain the oversight agencies often fall under the influence of the industries they are supposed to be policing.
In an industry where safety is paramount, the report raise concerns about the effectiveness of the FAA’s whistleblower protections and regulatory oversight.
