HQ Staff Moving To USDOT Building

The FAA announced it plans to cancel leases on satellite offices in the Washington D.C. area in its move to consolidate operations and move headquarters staff into the building with the rest of the Department of Transportation.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in an email to staff that the timing of the moves of each office would be finalized soon, and that the consolidation would improve collaboration. "We will work more effectively when we're together, rather than spread across six different office locations. This will significantly reduce operating costs and enhance collaboration," he said.

The DOT said on August 26 that it planned to relocate thousands of FAA headquarters workers to the DOT’s main office and consolidate the FAA’s IT and other systems.

The FAA is one of several agencies within DOT but by far the largest with 44,200 of the total 53,000 employees. Still to be determined is how many functions such as purchasing, IT, human resources, and others would be incorporated into the DOT building. Workforce reductions are also being considered as well as how many and where those would happen.

SecTrans Sean Duffy told employees that the department will begin sunsetting legacy systems and utilizing advanced technologies as it moves toward its goal of streamlining processes, consolidate administrative functions, and modernizing its infrastructure.

Duffy noted that the FAA offices in the Orville and Wilbur Wright Federal Building, which was completed in 1963, are in serious disrepair with employees unable to even drink the water. He also mentioned that some FAA employees may not want to move, "and be an entity unto ourselves that's not responsive to anybody in government."

But Duffy added, "I think it's important for cooperation and collaboration to be under one roof.” The consolidation is part of President Donald Trump’s effort to make the government more efficient and responsive by shrinking the federal workforce and consolidating office space it uses.

FMI:  www.transportation.gov/ , www.faa.gov/