United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-10-31 monographic deposited born digital 46 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-55 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55 P0b002ee1803a002a f:d0255 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55 GAO-02-55 Air traffic control systems Air traffic controllers Quality assurance Transportation safety Reductions in force Safety regulation Human resources training FAA Air Traffic Control System FAA Controller-in-Charge Program Other Written Product A02407 Each day, over 25,000 flights and their nearly two million passengers--as well as innumerable cargo, military, and general aviation flights--depend on the 15,000 air traffic controllers working in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Control (ATC) system to safely reach their destinations. Because the ATC system requires thousands of controllers, each of whom typically manages just a section of airspace or one aspect of an aircraft's takeoff or landing, FAA depends on supervisors to monitor air traffic operations and controllers' workload and performance to ensure that the system is operating safely. In negotiating its 1998 collective bargaining agreement with its controllers' union, FAA agreed to a national plan that would reduce by attrition the number of supervisors that oversee air traffic controllers. To do so without compromising safety, FAA will increasingly have its controllers performing supervisory duties as Controllers-in-Charge (CIC) when supervisors are not present. FAA is implementing its national plan to reduce the number of supervisors for air traffic control through its regional offices, which are doing so by considering the supervisory staffing needs of each of their facilities or by applying a 10-to-1 ratio across the board. Nationwide, FAA has selected 8,268 controllers to serve as CICs, which is about 55 percent of its air traffic controller workforce. GAO found that the materials for FAA's CIC training program were through and comprehenshive, but FAA has little assurance that the training was effectively presented nationwide and achieved its objectives. Although FAA conducted some assessment of training at a limited number of facilities, the agency has not obtained student evaluations from most of those who completed the course or conducted an overall evaluation of whether the training was effective. FAA has not consistently implemented its quality assurance procedures for the CIC expansion. Five of the 12 facilities GAO visited did not have quality assurance measures in place for the CIC expansion, and the remaining seven facilities relied on their existing quality assurance programs to monitor the impact of the CIC expansion. FAA's reduction of supervisors will save the agency $141.5 million, or about $23.1 million less than it estimated. The difference between FAA's estimate and GAO's is the result of two factors. The first of these is that FAA's estimate did not factor in the 10-percent premium FAA pays controllers for serving as CICs, which GAO estimates will cost $41.5 million over the five-year life of the agreement. The second factor is that supervisory attrition has, so far, been happening faster than FAA estimated, increasing its net savings by about $18.4 million. To fully assess productivity gains from both the CIC expansion and other increases in controllers' duties, FAA believes it needs more data than it currently has, but it has not yet implemented systems that capture all of the productivity data it needs to do so. FAA expects to have such a system in place in fiscal year 2002. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55.pdf GAO-02-55 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-55 Other Written Product GAO-02-55; Air Traffic Control: FAA Enhanced the Controller-in-Charge Program, but More Comprehensive Evaluation is Needed; Air traffic control systems Air traffic controllers Quality assurance Transportation safety Reductions in force Safety regulation Human resources training FAA Air Traffic Control System FAA Controller-in-Charge Program