The Federal Aviation Administration has recommended that ST Aerospace San Antonio be fined more than $1 million for hiring 90 employees before required drug tests were completed on them.
The FAA claims San Antonio Aerospace either failed to conduct the drug tests on those employees or did not wait to confirm that those tests were negative before hiring those employees to work on aircraft.
Twenty-five of the employees performed safety-related work on ST Aerospace projects before the test results were verified, the administration said.
It said the alleged conduct, which occurred between March 24, 2007, and May 8, 2008, violated federal safety regulations.
“Safety is compromised when our regulations are skirted or ignored,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “The travelling public has to be confident that the people who perform work on their planes are complying with those regulations.”
The company has 30 days from receipt of the administration's January 5 enforcement letter to respond.