Thu, May 17, 2012
Agency Speeding Up Complaint Investigations
FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta has responded to allegations that his agency ignored or took years to respond to safety concerns raised by employees. He cites as evidence of the agency's proactive stance on the issue its 2009 creation of a separate office to respond to whistle-blower complaints.
"In that period of time, we've made tremendous strides in responding to investigations that get referred to us," Huerta (pictured) said.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is the agency tasked with protecting employees who seek protection for raising concerns about fraud and abuse. In a letter to the White House on May 8, the Office said that it had substantiated seven separate whistle-blower complaints against the FAA. Top among these was that air traffic controllers at a Long Island, NY facility slept and watched movies on the job, and retaliated against supervisors who tried to enforce safety rules.
Bloomberg News reports that Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner said in a letter "Given the recurring and serious nature of these concerns, I write with a strong recommendation that more rigorous oversight measures be put in place" referring to the DOT and FAA. The FAA is said to have the highest rate of internal whistle-blowers among U.S. agencies.
Mr. Huerta defended the FAA's recent whistle-blower response, but did not address the Special Counsel's call for increased oversight. All but four cases referred for investigation in recent years have been closed, according to Huerta. He said "That's four too many. We have to continue to improve on that." He later added "This is a very, very high priority for us. What I have instructed our team to do is to ensure that we are being responsive and follow-up is quick."
More News
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]