Government Accountability Office – Aviation Reports
March 19, 2020
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published two reports addressing insider threats at airports and aviation maintenance.
§ GAO-20-275 studied “insider threats” at airports, which involves aviation workers exploiting their access privileges to potentially cause harm at the nation’s airports. GAO reviewed efforts taken by aviation stakeholders to address and mitigate insider threats at airports, and evaluated the strategic planning and performance goals of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Insider Threat program. The GAO found that TSA, airport operators, and air carriers help to mitigate insider threats through a variety of efforts. TSA’s Insider Threat Program comprises multiple TSA offices with ongoing insider threat mitigation activities, including long-standing requirements addressing access controls and background checks, and compliance inspections. GAO recommended that TSA develop and implement a strategic plan for continuing to address insider threats and to identify objective performance goals to achieve that plan.
§ GAO-20-206 studied the potential adverse effects that retirements and attrition could have on the aviation maintenance workforce as required by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The study reviewed: federal data about the aviation maintenance workforce; how the government, educational institutions, and businesses develop the aviation maintenance workforce; and how the FAA has updated training curriculums and testing standards for aviation mechanics. The report found that a sufficient supply of certificated workers is critical for safety and to meet the growing demand for air travel. However, GAO also found that supply and demand data for certificated workers are limited. FAA maintains data on the number of newly certificated individuals, but less is known about how many certificated individuals exit the aviation industry each year and the extent of growing demand. GAO’s analysis of FAA data found that over half of the roughly 330,000 mechanics and repairmen FAA had certificated as of December 2018 were between 50 and 70 years old, and that 97 percent were men. The GAO ultimately recommended that the FAA gather information and target resources towards promoting a robust and qualified aviation maintenance workforce.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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