Just Short Of The Honor Roll

This may be better than expected... but does everyone agree? Last week, representatives with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association met with executives at Lockheed Martin, to review the company's overall performance over its first 10 months running the flight service station (FSS) system.

And the result? AOPA says the company has earned a B+ so far. The grade is representative of two things, AOPA and Lockheed Martin agreed: service is good... but there's room for improvement.

"We have an ongoing communication with Lockheed Martin so that they remain well aware of our members' needs," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We're not going to let them slide on any of their service promises. And their management seems committed to providing high-quality information to pilots quickly."

Lockheed Martin says their private flight service briefers answer calls, on average, in the less than 30 seconds... which is better than the FAA managed when it ran the service. Most notably, Lockheed is doing it with 500 fewer employees.

According to AOPA, that is also the source of aggravation, however... as some members have reported being on hold longer than 30 seconds -- or worse, being transferred to other facilities, where the specialists aren't as knowledgeable about local conditions -- due to some stations being understaffed. Company officials acknowledged that remains a problem -- particularly at FSS offices slated to close, as part of the modernization program.

However, AOPA says Lockheed Martin is also working to solve that problem. Its second class of specialists will graduate this month, all trained to FAA and National Weather Service standards. And the company is actively recruiting pilots already living in hard-to-staff cities to train them as FSS specialists.

Lockheed's managers told AOPA that they are serious about responding to and resolving pilot complaints. Any complaint -- whether by phone or to their Web site — will be investigated by the facility manager, and the pilot will get an answer, usually within a day or two.

Of course, they would appreciate compliments as well.

"Lockheed Martin gets paid for performance. The faster the calls are answered, the fewer the complaints, the more money they can earn," said Boyer. "So they have every incentive for doing this job well."

FMI: www.lockheedmartin.com, www.aopa.org, Find The AFSS Nearest You