Loans Land FAA Atop Proxmire’s Golden Fleece List

Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) gave his monthly Golden Fleece award Sunday to the Federal Aviation Administration for its handling of a loan program for airlines that resulted in huge “defaults on the taxpayer.”

The FAA got the tongue-in-cheek prize for November for “landing a $47-million default on the taxpayer,” with another $75 million set aside for possible defaults in fiscal year 1987, Proxmire said.

Proxmire said the money will pay the debts incurred by bankrupt airlines that used federally guaranteed loans to buy airplanes and spare parts. He awards the Golden Fleece monthly to the “most wasteful, ridiculous or ironic use of the taxpayers’ money.”