Clinton Plan Seeks to Improve FAA Accountability, Efficiency

President Clinton, soon to face the ordeal of commercial air traffic as a private citizen, Thursday announced a package of reforms designed to make the Federal Aviation Administration more efficient and accountable.

“The fact is, the FAA’s 20-year effort to modernize its air-traffic-control technology simply has not been able to keep pace with either the emergence of new technology or the growth and demand for air travel,” Clinton said. “While we’ve made significant progress . . . the horrendous flight-delay statistics demonstrate we have not done nearly enough.”

Clinton, acting to carry out legislation passed by Congress in April, directed the FAA to instill a results-oriented, private-sector style of management in its massive air-traffic-services division, which employs about 40,000 people, mostly controllers.

Under the plan, a chief of operations would be hired to run a re-named Air Traffic Organization, which would operate separately from the agency’s standards setting, security and enforcement arms. The new executive would report directly to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.

A nationwide search is underway to find the manager, who will make $141,300 a year--the same as Garvey--and could earn a bonus of up to 30% of that if there are marked improvements.

In addition, a five-member advisory panel comprised mostly of business executives would function as a board of directors for the Air Traffic Organization, guiding both its manager and Garvey.

Calls for more radical changes, such as privatizing the FAA, have been rejected as too risky by Congress and the Clinton administration alike.

But changing the management culture of the FAA could be a years-long process. And it could be even longer before such changes have an impact on gridlock in the skies.

“This is a complex issue that has no single solution,” Garvey acknowledged.

The White House said flight delays have increased by more than 58% in the last five years; cancellations of flights by 68%. Clinton called the rate of delays “horrendous.”

Clinton, who must give up access to Air Force One on Jan. 21, added, “I will try to wait patiently in those lines next year for Congress to do its part.”

With the air traffic system operating at close to capacity, bad weather and over-scheduling by airlines can create delays that have a ripple effect throughout the country. The FAA has been criticized for being slow to modernize its vast array of computer systems and too inflexible to try to head off delays by rerouting flights on problem days.

However, agency officials say that they will not compromise safety by putting planes up in bad weather or allowing them to fly too close to other aircraft. In essence, some officials maintain that delays have become a safety valve in a stressed system.

Clinton also directed the Department of Transportation to study whether it would be feasible to charge airlines user fees for flying at peak times from congested airports--an idea that has been repeatedly proposed but lacks support in Congress.

American Airlines Vice Chairman Bob Baker, who attended the White House event, acknowledged that management changes alone cannot solve the congestion problem. “It’s going to have an effect if all participants work hard at it, so it is important in that respect,” said Baker.

The members of the new advisory board include its chairwoman, former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kansas), software executive John Cullinane, United Steelworkers official Leon Lynch, business executive Sharon Patrick and railroad executive John W. Snow.