...But First A Word From Our Sponsors | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Mon, Jun 09, 2003

...But First A Word From Our Sponsors

US Govt. Set To Make Wx Briefings Commercial Ventures

New rules adopted by Washington last week mean about 850,000 federal jobs will soon be in the hands of private contractors - among them, weather briefings for private pilots. While the Bush administration says the rule changes increase competition and lower costs, Democrats, labor unions and some pilots are worried the move is nothing more than a union-busting tactic that will lead to a return of political favoritism.

Better, Faster, Cheaper?

The Bush administration says, of the 1.8 million federal jobs, about half duplicate work done in the private sector. Mr. Bush's idea: open up those work areas to private competition. At least 15 percent of such jobs are set to be bid by the end of the fiscal year.

Mitch Daniels, the outgoing director of the President's Office of Management and Budget (shown with Pres. Bush, right), said last Thursday that the new regulations "will open much wider the doors to those businesses and their workers who can seek to provide to the American taxpayer a better value at a better price. We are indifferent as to who wins the competition. It need not result in any changes in federal employment. We'll just have to see what a more wide-open system brings."

But even before the new regulations kick in, the government's use of private contractors is already under fire. For instance, NASA employs thousands of non-government contractors, most notably from the Boeing Company. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, reviewing events that led to the Feb. 1 disintegration of the space shuttle, is examining the relationships between NASA and its contractors to see if they contributed to the tragedy.

FAA Changes

At the FAA, 2700 government jobs could be on the line as flight service duties go up for bid. The vast majority of those jobs in question involve weather briefings currently conducted by FAA employees.

The rule changes are "merely an act to give lucrative government work to contractors without any accountability to the taxpayer," said Bobby L. Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) doesn't like the government to lose any power, anywhere. He said, "Reasonable steps to improve the efficiency of federal agencies makes sense, but blanket privatization does not. We can't afford to hand over key federal responsibilities to companies with the best lobbyists or the lowest bids." He did not elaborate on what "reasonable" meant to him.

FMI: www.faa.gov

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Douglas A-4K

Pilot Applied Full Aft Stick And Nose-Up Trim, But The Airplane Remained On The Runway Analysis: The pilot reported that a preflight inspection and flight control checks revealed n>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

Classic Aero-TV: PBY Catalina--From Wartime to Double Sunrise to the Long Sunset

From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Before They’re All Gone... Humankind has been messing about in airplanes for almost 120-years. In that time, thousands of aircraft representing i>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.01.25): Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) A transportation system that transports people and property by air between two points in the NAS using aircraft with advanced technologies, including el>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.01.25)

Aero Linx: MQ-1B Predator The MQ-1B Predator is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-col>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC