The FAA needs to improve management of the $859-million Air Traffic Control Optimum Training Solution (ATCOTS) contract, the Department of Transportation inspector general has said.
The agency plans to hire over 11,700 air traffic controllers through fiscal 2021 and the ATCOTS contract is intended to provide up to 10 years of controller training support. But the IG found weak acquisition practices and lack of effective contract oversight for the ATCOTS contract in 2010 and in a follow up review it said that although the FAA addressed eight of nine prior recommendations, that weaknesses in contract and program oversight remain.
Due to lack of clearly defined requirements, the ATCOTS program experienced four consecutive years of cost overruns, totaling about $89 million, the IG concluded.
It said the FAA also has not been able to achieve key training goals to reduce training time and innovate training, has not measured its progress toward its goal to reduce training costs, that cost incentives have failed to hold down costs, and that the performance measures the FAA used for award fees were not tied to enhancing key contract goals.
