[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E29-E30]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ELIMINATE THE FAA'S LIAISON AND FAMILIARIZATION TRAINING PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RAY LaHOOD

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the 
frequent flyer program that is currently being run down at the Federal 
Aviation Administration. But unlike other frequent flyer programs, you 
don't have to earn your free flight in this program--all you have to do 
is sign up. What I am referring to, of course, is the FAA's Liaison and 
Familiarization Training Program (FAM), a program that was originally 
created to give air traffic controllers an awareness of, and 
familiarization with, cockpit and pilot procedures by allowing them to 
ride in the cockpit's jump seat. This program, while laudable in 
purpose, has unfortunately turned into a ``popular perk'' for FAA 
employees who are more interested in getting free air travel for 
vacations and personal reasons than they are in observing and learning 
about cockpit and safety procedures. The abuses of this program were so 
bad, in fact, that the Inspector General of the Department of 
Transportation recently recommended a number of reforms be made to the 
program. It is, in the words of one airline's slogan, becoming obvious 
that FAA employees love to fly, and it shows. Today, I am introducing a 
bill that will implement the Inspector General's reforms in order to 
curb the rampant and widespread abuse of the FAM program by FAA 
employees.
  In an August 3, 1998 memo to Jane Garvey, the FAA Administrator, 
Kenneth Mead, the DOT's Inspector General (IG), reiterated his concern 
over the ``serious, continuing, and widespread lapse of ethics in the 
Liaison and Familiarization program (FAM).'' This program, which dates 
back to the 1940's, was originally created in order to allow FAA 
employees, particularly air traffic controllers, to ride in an airline 
cockpit's jump seat in order to become familiar with the environment in 
which pilots operate. However, over the past two decades this program 
has been increasingly misused by employees. And, I don't think I need 
to remind you, Mr. Speaker, that accepting gifts of

[[Page E30]]

free travel is in direct contravention to a host of laws, regulations, 
and executive orders.
  Among the rampant abuses that were detailed in a February 20, 1996 IG 
report were the following: an employee that took 12 weekend trips in a 
15-month period to visit his family in Tampa, Florida; an employee that 
took 10 weekend trips in a 9-month period to visit the city where he 
ultimately retired; an employee that took 7 trips to Fort Myers or 
Tampa, Florida, and 2 trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, utilizing weekends 
and regular days off to travel; travel by an employee that utilized 
annual leave or regular days off to take 7 trips to Los Angeles, 
California, and 1 trip to Munich, Germany; an employee that took 17 
trips to travel to his military reserve duty stations; and 7 couples 
that took 21 flights for extended weekends and vacations. And, 
according to an article published in the Washington Post, 247,840 
authorizations for travel under the auspices of this program were 
issued by the FAA between January 1993 and April 1994. Unfortunately, 
the FAA failed to act on this 1996 report, and that is why I am 
introducing legislation that will reform this program so that these 
abuses and ethical violations will not occur in the future.
  The Inspector General's August 3 memo makes several recommendations 
for reform. I believe these recommendations are valid, reasonable, and 
absolutely necessary in order to curb the ethical lapses that have 
occurred, while still preserving the program's valuable training and 
safety benefits. My bill simply adopts the recommendations of the 
Inspector General and requires the FAA to transmit a report to Congress 
on the implementation of these reforms. Specifically, the IG's report 
makes the following recommendations precluding FAM travel that ``(1) 
involve travel on leave days or days off; (2) involve scheduled leave 
of days off between the outgoing flight and the return flight except 
when management makes an affirmative documented determination that such 
is for legitimate purposes and will not create an appearance of 
impropriety; or (3) involve foreign overseas travel for an employee in 
a facility that does not work oceanic airspace.'' In addition, the IG 
report makes the further recommendation that ``appropriate controls 
must require preapproval of FAM flights by supervisory personnel and 
only then when the supervisor determines that the specific flight meets 
official training needs of the FAA.''
  It is time that we reform this program. The abuses have gone on far 
too long, so long, in fact, that the program is considered an 
entitlement by air traffic controllers in their contract negotiations 
with the FAA. This program has, according to the IG, become ``what is 
widely understood to be a popular `perk' for many FAA employees''--a 
perk that I believe needs to end.

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