A theme of the national  strategy is that homeland security is a shared responsibility among these  stakeholders, not solely the responsibility of the federal government. Stakeholders we interviewed and our own analysis of revisions made to  the guidance and standards generally found the revised guidance and  standards to be better organized and to provide some additional clarity on  security training requirements for crew members. Although TSA made these enhancements, stakeholders we interviewed  and stakeholders identified by TSA provided concerns about the  reasonableness of applying parts of the guidance and standards to both  flight and cabin crew members, the difficulty in implementing some of the  standards without additional information or training tools from TSA, and  the vagueness of some of the guidance and standards. In January 2005, TSA took another step to strengthen its review of air  carriers’ flight and cabin crew member security training by developing a  standard form for TSA inspectors and training staff to use to conduct and  document their reviews of air carriers’ security training curriculums. However, TSA has not  established a time frame for completing these efforts. TSA Has Not Established Performance Measures or a Time Frame for Evaluating Training Effectiveness

TSA has not yet developed performance measures for the advanced  voluntary crew member self-defense training program or established a  time frame for evaluating the program’s overall effectiveness. However, TSA has not yet  established performance measures or a timeframe for evaluating the  effectiveness of the training program, including the training design and  delivery. Recommendations

To help provide TSA management with reasonable assurance that its  security training guidance and standards for flight and cabin crew  members are preparing crew members for potential threat conditions, and  to enable TSA and air carriers to assess the accomplishments of the  security training and target program improvements, we recommend that  the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security direct the Assistant  Secretary, Transportation Security Administration, to take the following  three actions:    establish strategic goals for the flight and cabin crew member security  training program, in collaboration with air carriers, and communicate  these goals to air carriers to explain the results that are expected from the  training;   develop guidance and standards for air carriers to use in establishing  performance goals and measures for their individual flight and cabin crew  member security training programs to help ensure consistency in the  development of goals and measures; and review air carriers’ goals and measures as part of its monitoring efforts to  help ensure that they are linked to strategic goals established by TSA and  to assess whether the training programs are achieving their intended  results. (3) What  efforts has TSA taken to develop, implement, and measure the  effectiveness of advanced voluntary self-defense training for flight and  cabin crew members? To determine the actions TSA has taken to develop guidance and  standards for flight and cabin crew security training and to measure the  effectiveness of the training as well as how TSA ensures domestic air  carriers comply with required training guidance and standards, we  obtained and analyzed relevant legislation, guidance, and standards  developed by TSA and FAA, and TSA records documenting its reviews of  air carriers’ security training programs.
Why GAO Did This Study

Training flight and cabin crew members to handle potential threats against domestic aircraft is an important element in securing our nation's aviation system. The responsibility for ensuring that crew members are prepared to handle these threats is a shared responsibility between the private sector--air carriers--and the federal government, primarily the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This report addresses (1) actions TSA has taken to develop guidance and standards for flight and cabin crew member security training and to measure the effectiveness of the training, (2) how TSA ensures domestic air carriers comply with the training guidance and standards, and (3) efforts TSA has taken to develop and assess the effectiveness of its voluntary self-defense training program.

What GAO Found

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, TSA enhanced guidance and standards for flight and cabin crew member security training with input from stakeholders. Specifically, TSA revised the guidance and standards to include additional training elements required by law and to improve the organization and clarity of the guidance and standards. Some stakeholders we interviewed and our own review generally found that the revised guidance and standards improved upon previous versions in terms of organization and clarity of the information provided. However, some stakeholders identified concerns about, for example, the reasonableness of applying parts of the guidance and standards to both flight and cabin crew members and the difficulty in implementing some of the standards without additional information or training tools from TSA. Additionally, TSA has not established strategic goals and performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the training because it considers its role in the training program as regulatory. In this regard, TSA views the individual air carriers as responsible for establishing performance goals and measures for their training programs, but has not required them to do so. Without goals and measures, TSA and air carriers will be limited in their ability to fully assess accomplishments and target associated improvements. TSA recently took steps to strengthen its efforts to oversee air carriers' flight and cabin crew security training to ensure they are complying with the required guidance and standards. For example, in January 2005, TSA added staff with expertise in designing training programs to review air carriers' crew member security training curriculums and developed a standard form for staff to use to conduct their reviews. However, TSA lacks adequate controls for monitoring and reviewing air carriers' crew member security training, including written procedures for conducting and documenting these reviews. TSA plans to develop written procedures, but has not established a timeframe for completing this effort. TSA has developed an advanced voluntary self-defense training program with input from stakeholders and implemented the program in December 2004, as required by law. However, stakeholders and our own analysis identified concerns about the training design and delivery, such as the lack of recurrent training and the lack of a realistic training environment. Also, TSA has not yet established performance measures for the program or established a time frame for evaluating the program's effectiveness.