AOPA Says Outsourced Duties Receive Failing Grade

Give 'em an "F!" That's the message the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association had for lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, during a Congressional hearing into Lockheed Martin's performance in the two years since it took over Flight Service Station duties from the FAA... and the agency's ability to regulate other private companies tasked with providing vital air safety functions.

As it turns out, at least one member of Congress isn't too keen on its performance, either.

"We're going to watch this very carefully," said Represenative James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation Committee during the October 10 hearing. "We'll hold hearings every three months if we have to."

Many in the industry look to Lockheed's FSS deal as the proverbial canary, an early indicator of how other private companies may handle taking over duties once performed by FAA personnel.

In light of the recent awarding of a $1.8 billion contract to build the first portion of the much-lauded "NextGen" air traffic control system to White Plains, NY-based ITT Corp. -- a company that, in addition to being a US defense contractor, is also the world's largest supplier of equipment to move and treat water and wastewater -- several lawmakers are taking the FAA to task for its handling of assigning the FSS contract.

As ANN has reported, many pilots have complained of long wait times... dropped calls... and a lack of knowledge of local conditions on the part of Lockheed FSS personnel.

A May survey conducted among pilots by AOPA showed more than two-thirds of the pilots contacted felt that service from the automated flight service station (AFSS) network had become worse in the last 30 days. Some 44 percent said that they were "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the briefings received. A June survey showed some improvement, but not a lot.

"My members hate this. They're mad as hell at me," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.

Boyer conceded the organization supported privatization of FSS -- calling the move "the right thing to do, and the right time to do it. "This was kindergarten compared to some of the other things [Lockheed] were working on," he added.

Things looked promising early on, Boyer said... especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast just over one month before Lockheed took over FSS duties in October 2005. "We got through Hurricane Katrina better that we would have under the old system," he said.

But things took a tumble this year, as Lockheed worked to transition to more modern gear... and aggressively close old FSS facilities. AOPA brought up its concerns repeatedly to Lockheed, the FAA, and the Department of Transportation, with varying levels of success.

"FAA management announced the contract, said, 'well, we're done with flight service now, we don't have to worry about it any longer,' and then literally walked away," Boyer said.

"Thank goodness for DUATS," which took up the slack in times when FSS was overburdened, Boyer added.

A more recent survey by AOPA found 64 percent of respondents were satisfied with the current level of service from Lockheed's FSS, according to Boyer... "[b]ut if you were taking an FAA written test, that would be a failing grade," he adds.

Lockheed's Joseph Cipriano, president of Business Process Solutions, admits past problems were "unacceptable"... but says the company continues to learn, and has adjusted its practices and staffing to deal with future issues, reports The Associated Press.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.aopa.org, www.lockheed.com, www.afss.com