FAA is responsible for implementing most of the aviation security mandates in the Reauthorization Act. No single agency is responsible for monitoring all of the agencies’ implementation efforts and ensuring coordination of interagency issues. FAA Has Established a Computerized System for Tracking Its Implementation of the Commission’s Recommendations

FAA’s Office of Aviation Policy and Plans developed a computerized system to track and monitor the status of all 57 recommendations contained in the Commission’s report. Work Remains on Most Recommendations That Were Scheduled for Completion in Fiscal Year 1997

FAA planned to implement three of the Commission’s aviation security recommendations in fiscal year 1997; it fully implemented one of them. The agency has substantially implemented the second recommendation; progress is being made on the third, although it has fallen 15 months behind schedule. Table 1 identifies the three recommendations that FAA expected to complete in fiscal year 1997. For example, one of the directives establishes procedures for positively identifying passengers by requiring them to provide a valid form of identification at the check-in counter. (months) (months)
9 10 11 12 1 Similarly, although consortia—a partnership between airport and air carrier officials and law enforcement agencies to review security issues—were formed at 41 airports in 1996, shortly after the Commission issued its initial report, FAA has not expanded the voluntary consortia program called for in the Commission’s final report. FAA Is Making Progress, but Delays Have Occurred

FAA has made progress in implementing the five recommendations we reviewed, but it has not met its target dates because, among other reasons, implementation involved relatively new and untested technologies. Although the Office of the Secretary of Transportation provides quarterly reports to the National Security Council and annual reports to the Office of the Vice President on the implementation of all 57 of the Commission’s recommendations, no single federal agency is responsible for tracking, monitoring, and coordinating the activities associated with implementing the recommendations. Consequently, issues that arise between agencies may go unresolved. These recommendations were contained in the initial report of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. Give properly cleared airline and airport security personnel access to classified information they need to know. FAA considers this recommendation completed. Status of Five Aviation Security Recommendations, Implementation Issues, and Field Observations

The following provides additional information on the status of five aviation security recommendations made by the Commission and authorized under the Reauthorization Act, implementation issues, and our field observations during visits to airports. Scope and Methodology

To determine how federal agencies track, monitor, and coordinate activities designed to implement the Commission’s aviation security recommendations and the Reauthorization Act’s mandates, we obtained and analyzed the status reports that FAA’s computerized tracking systems generated between May 1997 and February 1998, as well as the quarterly status reports covering all the Commission’s aviation security recommendations made to federal agencies, which the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of the Secretary compiled and sent to the National Security Council for the same period. To determine the progress FAA had made in implementing the key recommendations that were both recommended by the Commission and mandated by the Congress in 1996 and the major issues that needed to be addressed before these recommendations could be fully implemented, we used the requesters’ criteria to determine which of the Commission’s recommendations and the act’s mandates covered the same issues. Additional copies are $2 each.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tracking, monitoring, and coordinating activities undertaken by the agencies responsible for implementing recommendations made by the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security and on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) progress in implementing eight of these recommendations, focusing on: (1) how federal agencies responsible for implementing aviation security recommendations track, monitor, and coordinate their activities; (2) the progress that FAA has made in implementing three of the Commission's aviation security recommendations that were scheduled to be completed in fiscal year (FY) 1997 and whether all implementation issues been resolved; and (3) the progress that FAA has made in implementing five recommendations that were both recommended by the Commission and mandated by Congress in 1996, and what major issues need to be addressed before they can be fully implemented.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) FAA is responsible for implementing 21 of the Commission's 31 aviation security recommendations and most of the Reauthorization Act's aviation security mandates; (2) FAA developed a computerized system to track its progress in implementing each of the Commission's recommendations; (3) in addition, FAA's Office of the Chief Counsel established a separate computerized system for tracking the activities required of the agency under the Reauthorization Act; (4) eight other federal agencies, each of which is responsible for implementing the Commission's other aviation security recommendations, track progress through the operations of their program and budget offices; (5) although the Department of Transportation's Office of the Secretary provides quarterly reports to the National Security Council and sends an annual report to the Vice President, neither the Security Council nor any other agency is responsible for monitoring all of the agencies' implementation efforts or ensuring coordination between agencies; (6) without such oversight and coordination, issues that arise between agencies may go unresolved; (7) of the three recommendations GAO reviewed that FAA planned to complete in FY 1997, FAA has totally implemented only one; (8) this recommendation--to give properly cleared air carrier and airport security personnel access to classified information they need to know--was completed on schedule; (9) FAA has largely implemented the second recommendation--to establish procedures for identifying passengers before they board an aircraft--through a series of directives, one of which requires that passengers provide a valid form of identification at the check-in counter; (10) the third recommendation--to voluntarily establish a partnership between airport and air carrier officials and law enforcement agencies to implement security enhancements--has not been expanded to an additional 200 airports beyond the 41 established as a result of the Commission's initial report and is 15 months behind schedule; (11) FAA has made progress but encountered delays in implementing the five recommendations made by the Commission and the similar mandates contained in the Reauthorization Act; and (12) these delays have occurred, in large part, because the recommendations involve new technologies and, in some cases, require FAA to issue regulations.