FAA’s Assistant Administrator for Finance and Management serves as  the agency official for process change management and provided  leadership for FAA’s Section 812 effort through the Office of Finance and  Management (AFN). As of January 2015, FAA considered 33 of the  36 initiatives implemented. For the five initiatives that FAA classified as “in- progress,” we assessed FAA’s efforts against two additional key  practices—dedicate an implementation team and set implementation  goals and a timeline. FAA’s Actions to Carry Out Initiatives Were Generally Consistent with Selected Key Practices but Were Less Consistent with Results-Oriented Reporting

FAA’s actions to carry out its initiatives were generally consistent with our  selected key practices for organizational transformations; however, FAA’s  actions were less consistent with the key practice to adopt leading  practices for results-oriented reporting, as shown in figure 2. Establish a Communication Strategy

FAA’s actions were consistent with the key practice of establishing a  communication strategy for 30 of the 36 initiatives and partially consistent  for 6 of the 36 initiatives. Adopt Leading Practices for Results-Oriented Strategic Planning and Reporting

FAA’s actions were consistent with the key practice of adopting leading  practices for results-oriented strategic planning and reporting for 21 of the  36 initiatives, partially consistent for 12 of the 36 initiatives, and  inconsistent for 3 of the 36 initiatives. Initiatives that were consistent with  this key practice established a basis for comparing results and used or  were planning to use performance measures to assess results. For example, the Office of Airports’ initiative to  develop standard operating procedures to standardize its regional  processes, such as grant reviews, was partially consistent with the key  practice. Until those performance  measures are developed, officials said they will only measure the degree  to which Airports employees use the new standard operating procedures. As stated previously, FAA used a decentralized  approach to respond to the Section 812 mandate. Moreover, for federal agency  consolidation efforts, we have found that agencies should have  implementation plans that include measures that show an organization’s  progress toward achieving an intended level of performance, such as  quality, timeliness, cost of service, or customer service that the  consolidation was intended to achieve. Without a more coordinated effort to encourage offices to track  performance measures that can be aggregated across multiple initiatives,  FAA and Congress as well as other stakeholders cannot have confidence  that the agency’s efforts met or will meet the intent of Section 812 to  streamline and reform the agency. FAA, through its  Community of Practice for Process Improvement, is creating a database  to track information on its process improvement efforts. Lastly, Section 812 required FAA to submit a report to Congress on the  actions taken to streamline and reform the agency but did not require that  FAA track or report to Congress on the results of these actions. If  Congress directs FAA to undertake a similar review to streamline and  reform the agency in the next authorization of FAA, Congress could help  ensure that FAA provides information on any realized efficiencies and  improvements by requiring tracking and reporting. For example, FAA and its offices, if asked to  undertake and report on the results of a streamlining and reform review in  the next authorization for FAA, could take necessary steps, such as  collecting baseline information, to establish performance measures and a  basis for comparing the results in line with key practices for organizational  transformations. AFN, which led the agency’s  response to the Section 812 mandate, collected and reported information  on the 36 streamlining and reform initiatives but provided limited guidance  on measuring performance and expectations to offices leading the  initiatives. As a result, the offices leading the initiatives determined the  status of the initiatives in different ways. Recommendation for Executive Action

To better enable FAA to track, aggregate, and report on the results of its  streamlining and reform initiatives, we recommend that the Secretary of  Transportation direct FAA to develop a mechanism to capture the results  of its efficiency initiatives in its planned database for process  improvements. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Information Related to the Status of the FAA Streamlining and Reform Initiatives

Table 3 provides a list of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 36  streamlining and reform initiatives that the agency identified in response  to Section 812 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. FAA identified these 36 initiatives in response to Section 812  of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. In particular, this  report provides information on (1) how FAA determined the status of the  streamlining and reform initiatives that the agency reported on in  response to Section 812 and (2) the extent to which FAA’s efforts to carry  out these initiatives were consistent with selected key practices for  organizational transformations. We did not assess the appropriateness of the initiatives FAA identified.
Why GAO Did This Study

As fiscal pressures facing the federal government continue, so too does the need for federal agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and activities. Section 812 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 mandated that FAA review its programs, offices, and organizations to, among other things, identify and address inefficient processes, wasteful practices, and duplication. In response, FAA identified 36 initiatives, including centralizing administrative functions and modernizing records management.
GAO was asked to examine FAA's progress to streamline and reform the agency as Congress considers reauthorizing FAA in fiscal year 2015. GAO examined how FAA determined the status of initiatives and the extent to which its efforts to implement initiatives were consistent with selected key practices for organizational transformations. Since each initiative sought to streamline or reform FAA, GAO identified four key practices for organizational transformations as applicable to these initiatives. GAO assessed FAA's efforts by comparing FAA documents to the selected key practices and interviewing agency officials leading each initiative.

What GAO Found

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) used a decentralized process to track the status of streamlining and reform initiatives identified in response to the Section 812 mandate in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. FAA's actions to implement the initiatives were mostly consistent with three key practices for organizational transformations but were less consistent with the key practice of adopting leading practices for results-oriented reporting, which includes using performance measures to show progress toward achieving results. Without information on the results of the initiatives, FAA and Congress cannot have confidence that FAA's efforts streamlined and reformed the agency.
Decentralized process: The Office of Finance and Management (AFN)—which led FAA's response to the Section 812 mandate—used a decentralized process to track initiatives. Individual offices responsible for the initiatives determined their status using varied definitions for “implemented.” For example, FAA considered an initiative to centralize leadership training “implemented” after officials created a plan for developing a series of courses, while FAA will consider an ongoing initiative to create standard procedures for the Office of Airports “implemented” after officials develop and deploy 24 new, standard procedures. As of January 2015, FAA considered 33 of the 36 initiatives implemented.
FAA's actions generally consistent with three key practices: GAO found that FAA's actions to implement the initiatives were mostly consistent for three key practices for organizational transformations—dedicate an implementation team, set implementation goals and a timeline, and establish a communication strategy. For example, FAA's actions were consistent with establishing a communication strategy for 30 of 36 initiatives and partially consistent for 6 of 36 initiatives.
FAA's actions less consistent with key practice regarding results-oriented reporting: GAO found that FAA's actions were inconsistent with this key practice for 3 of 36 initiatives, partially consistent for 12 of the 36, and consistent for 21 of 36. For example, for an initiative that was partially consistent, officials said that until they develop performance measures for the effect of the initiative, they would measure only whether staff use the new procedures. FAA's limited efforts to measure performance or outcomes of the initiatives hinder its ability to assess the initiatives' results. AFN has neither required offices to track performance measures nor made a specific effort to track any common measures across initiatives. As a result, offices used a range of performance measures to report results. GAO has previously found that information on results is critical for improving program performance and that agencies should have measures for the intended results of streamlining efforts—like cost savings and customer service—to help decision makers improve program performance. Actions to implement most of the 36 initiatives are continuing, and FAA plans to create a database to track these initiatives. Moving forward, FAA also plans to use the database to track other process improvement activities. To date, FAA has not decided what information to capture in the database but initially plans to include only descriptive information on each initiative. Lastly, Section 812 did not require FAA to track or report to Congress on the initiatives' results. By requiring such tracking and reporting, Congress could help ensure that FAA provides information on the results of a reform mandate, if required of FAA in the next authorization.

What GAO Recommends

As Congress considers FAA reauthorization, GAO suggests that Congress consider requiring FAA to track and report on the actual results of future agency-reform efforts. GAO recommends that FAA take steps to capture the results of improvement initiatives in its planned database for process improvements. The Department of Transportation agreed with the recommendation.