Within airline cabins, flight attendants brief passengers on safety procedures and assist in the event of an emergency. The FAA issues regulations governing cabin safety and regulates the training and duty hours of flight attendants. Travelers can make an important contribution to their own safety by paying close attention to the attendants' instructions, and by obeying the rules and recommendations on issues such as keeping seat belts fastened during all phases of flight. Seat belt use is important to safety not just at takeoff or landing, but throughout the flight because turbulence can occur without warning. Air carriers .
Airlines hire and train the employees who dispatch, fly, and maintain their aircraft.
The companies conduct comprehensive safety programs that include systematic self-inspections and flight checks. The FAA sets the minimum standards for these programs, and mandates a wide range of operating procedures. Several thousand FAA inspectors work to ensure that these requirements are met, both by reviewing records and by direct hands-on inspections of aircraft and maintenance facilities, and by observing operations. FAA inspectors routinely have access to an airline's maintenance computers and can see on a real-time basis what kinds of maintenance problems are occurring across an airline's fleet and how those problems are being dealt with. If carriers contract out their training or maintenance, they are still responsible to ensure that this work meets required standards.