Let me elaborate why I started this post. I am going to Hawaii for a business purposes and decided to take my family. My ticket was already purchased on America West so I had to pick up two more. This led me out of curiosity to check up on America West (who I haven't flown with in quite some time). The data on www.airsafe.com was very reassuring but a google search quickly led me to an education on the topic of outsourced major maintenance. I did not realize that apparently all major airlines no longer retain their own mechanics for major repair. American Airlines seems to be the exception and has quite a bit of info on the topic on their website. It is there I learned all about A,B,C checks etc. I then came across and article by Harold Meyerson who writes for the Washington Post. He has made assertions that outsourced maintenance may compromise safety for several reasons: lower hourly wages, non-FAA certified mechanics, sporadic FAA checks to these facilities, etc. Specifically, in the case of America West, I have read that major maintenance for the Airbus goes to Aeroman TACA and the 757's go to TIMCO. First of all, in the aftermath of 9/11 should aircraft be going outside of US soil for heavy maintenance where workers have access to every nook and cranny on a plane? I don't know... maybe places like Aeroman have rigorous background and security checks. One would hope that the airlines and the FAA have these things under control. According to Aviation Today and Aviation Now, Aeroman DOES seems to be a good facility. Indeed, they are owned by TACA who has been around since 1931 and TACA has a spotless record at www.airsafe.com. In regards to TIMCO, about a year ago, the North Carolina facility was raided by INS and several illegal aliens were arrested. In addition, several employees were found to have FAA mechanic licenses that they should not have had. They had lied about things on their applications. TIMCO claimed these people subcontracted and were in "metal-working" areas of the facility and were supervised by other employees. No FAA license and illegal residence? This brings up safety AND security questions in my mind. Although this happened in the TIMCO facility in NC, I guess I can't help but wonder if these things can happen at the Macon, GA facility where, as far as I understand, AWA planes are sent. Shouldn't TIMCO be doing a better job screening their employees?

I know airline travel is safe. Anyone can realize that by looking at the statistics. On the other hand, outsourced maintenance has only built up steam in the past few years as far as I understand. Maybe the favorable statistics to date were because of in-house repairs by airline employees. Let's hope things remain the same or better.

In answer to your other questions, I only fly maybe once or twice a year. I own a Japanese built car simply because I believe it is built much better than comparitively priced American cars. If I had to pay even $100 more for a ticket and know every mechanic that touched that plane had an FAA license, was directly employed by the airline, and legally resided in the USA, I would do it. Mind you, I am not prejudiced that foreign workers can not do an equivalent job, I am concerned about security, FAA and airline oversight, and whether they take a personal "ownership" for the job they do.

I'm sure my question on this board may have seemed "odd" to some. I'm sure most passengers just book the cheapest fare without any consideration of an airline's reputation - much less reading about outsourcing issues. I appreciate that everyone here has been most gracious and generous with their input, but rest assured that my true motivitation for these concerns in purely rooted in the love I have for my family.