FAA Has Historically Not Followed a Disciplined Acquisition Management Approach

FAA has encountered difficulty in acquiring new systems to help achieve its goals of replacing the air traffic control system’s aging infrastructure and of meeting the projected increase in air traffic. During the First Decade of Modernization, FAA Did Not Follow a Disciplined Approach

In the 1980s and early 1990s, we reported that problems with modernization projects occurred largely because FAA did not follow the guidance outlined in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-109, which is the principal guidance for acquiring major systems in the federal government. Circular A-109 calls for following a disciplined, five-phased approach to acquisition in order to minimize problems, such as cost increases and schedule delays. The agency believed that it could deliver and install new systems more quickly by combining Circular A-109 phases. Concerned about the continuing slow pace of the air traffic control modernization program—which led at times to FAA’s having to implement costly interim projects to sustain the ATC system—FAA sought from the Congress exemptions from many federal procurement rules. Specifically, our preliminary findings on FAA’s present approach indicate that the agency has not fully implemented an effective process for monitoring the cost, schedule, benefits, performance, and risk of its key projects throughout their life-cycle. We have reported on several root causes of FAA’s past modernization problems. FAA Has Taken Steps to Overcome Modernization Problems and Has Delivered Some Systems

FAA has taken a number of steps, in addition to implementing its Acquisition Management System, to overcome past problems with modernization efforts. As a result of this outreach effort, FAA and the aviation community agreed to (1) use an incremental approach to modernizing the National Airspace System, referred to as the “build a little, test a little” approach; (2) revise its blueprint for modernizing this system; and (3) deploy certain technologies earlier than FAA had planned because the aviation industry believed that these technologies could provide immediate benefits. These practices differ from those of the past in which FAA made unilateral decisions about air traffic control modernization and tried to deploy large, complex projects all at once, known as the “big bang” approach. Second, FAA has begun to develop a complete systems architecture for its modernization program and estimated in May 1998 that it would take 18 to 24 months to complete the development. We note that although FAA completed several of its major projects, they generally cost more than anticipated and were delivered behind schedule. Progress Made on Addressing Year 2000 Problems

On a related issue, our work on the Year 2000 problem has shown that FAA has made tremendous progress over the past year, but much remains to be done to complete the validation and implementation of FAA’s mission-critical systems. While the agency has many of the elements in place to improve its management of the modernization program, implementation is key to the agency’s future success in this area.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Control Modernization Program, focusing on: (1) the causes of the problems that have plagued FAA's modernization program for nearly two decades; (2) recent agency efforts to overcome these problems; and (3) the readiness of FAA and others to meet year 2000 requirements.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) from the inception of the air traffic control modernization program to today, FAA has not consistently followed a disciplined management approach for acquiring new systems; (2) in the 1980s and early 1990s, FAA did not follow the phased approach of federal acquisition guidance designed to help mitigate the cost, schedule, and performance risk associated with the development of major systems; (3) FAA believed it could develop and install new systems more quickly by combining several of the five phases outlined in this guidance; (4) however, as a result of not following this disciplined, phased approach, FAA often encountered major difficulties such as those associated with developing the Advanced Automation System; (5) in 1995, Congress exempted FAA from many federal procurement rules and regulations; (6) in April 1996, FAA implemented an acquisition management system, which emphasized the need for a disciplined approach to acquisition management; (7) however, GAO found continuing weaknesses in key areas such as how FAA monitors the status of projects throughout their life cycles; (8) FAA has taken a number of steps to overcome problems with past modernization efforts; (9) FAA has moved away from its practice of taking on large, complex projects all at once and is now acquiring new systems by using a more incremental approach; (10) in addition, FAA is no longer making unilateral decisions about air traffic control modernization; (11) instead, it has been working actively with the aviation community to make decisions more collaboratively; (12) furthermore, FAA has begun to address some of the root causes of its modernization problems by implementing processes to help: (a) improve its ability to estimate and account for project costs; (b) develop a complete architecture for modernizing the National Airspace System; (c) reduce the risks associated with software development; and (d) reform the organization's culture, including providing incentives to make managers more accountable; (13) while FAA has delivered some of its major systems, it must be recognized that many of these projects encountered difficulties in meeting their original cost and schedule goals, and the baselines were subsequently revised; and (14) FAA has taken critical steps over the past year to address problems associated with the date change to the year 2000, but much work remains to be done to help ensure that FAA and other key players such as airports have made needed fixes and have contingency plans in place so that operations can continue should problems arise.