Lockheed Flight Services Savings Down By $500 Million

The Department of Transportation's Inspector General will do a comprehensive audit of the FAA's contracting out of the Automated Flight Service Station system and it's already got a half-billion dollar discrepancy to investigate.

When the contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin last year, the FAA said it would save $2.2 billion over the life of the deal. Now that figure has been revised to $1.7 billion -- an alteration that's piqued the interest of the Inspector General.

"We are aware of the difference and will be looking into this as part of our review," IG spokesman David Barnes told Government Executive.

Lockheed took over the system last October and is in the process of consolidating the 58 FSS operations into 20, which naturally means job losses and transfers for employees.

It's by far the largest example of competitive outsourcing ever undertaken by the government. Inspector General audits are often undertaken at the request of government members but Barnes said the IG is doing this one on its own initiative because of the landmark nature of the process.

Inspector General To Check FSS Money, Safety, Service

Of course, there are huge financial implications in the audit, but money isn't everything. The IG also intends to investigate whether the move has impaired safety or adversely affected service (Lockheed Martin had service guarantees built into the contract).

There have been a few letters from pilots reporting service or safety issues but, while passionate, they've been comparatively few and far between. Whether that means pilots are being patient during the transition or that Lockheed is so far living up to its promises, we suppose the audit will tell.

One group that has quite naturally been vocal through the whole process is the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS). President Kate Breen seems to think the audit might be a whitewash. "If this is an honest-to-goodness audit, then I'm thrilled," she told Government Executive. Lockheed Martin won the contract over five other bidders, including a cooperative bid between NAATS and Harris Corp. Breen said the selection process seemed slanted in favor of the private contractor.