US: Trump directive stalls FAA safety warnings

President Donald Trump's executive directive to restrict or postpone new government regulations for 60 days has hampered the ability of the FAA to issue safety orders about aircraft. The instructions, known as "airworthiness directives," are issued frequently, and formalise mandated inspections or modifications to correct unsafe conditions on US aircraft. The stalled directives do not mean that airlines and aircraft operators are unaware of serious safety problems. The directives are typically the last step in the safety regulatory process. The aircraft operators first receive manufacturer bulletins about the problems, but in some instances wait for final FAA notices to act, according to two industry officials. The lack of directives from the FAA are a sign of the unintended consequences of the Trump administration's rapid efforts to halt or roll back what it sees as burdensome regulations on business, says one of the officials. Incoming appointees to the DoT and FAA have tried not to get in the way of safety directives, say the officials, but the executive order has meant an extra layer of bureaucracy for them. The FAA said in a statement that it has "worked to ensure no airworthiness directives are being held." The White House communications office did not respond to a request for comment. The agency has issued a total of 53 airworthiness directives in the last 60 days, but it hasn't issued any finalized directives in the more than two weeks the Trump administration has been in office.<br/>