Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The Story So Far...
There are three ‘parts’ to the nation’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) system; en-route centers (ARTCC), towers (ATCT), and flight service stations (FSS). In December of 2003, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced that the FSS prong of ATC and its 2200+ air traffic controllers would be contracted out via a process known as A-76 (this actually wasn’t a true A-76 contest, but that’s a story for another time).
Over the course of the following year, a contract was written up, and five interested bidders qualified as viable contestants. One of these was the FAA itself, paired with Harris Corporation, and known as the ‘Most Efficient Organization’ (MEO) in A-76-speak (every government entity bidding in such a contest to keep its own work in-house is referred to as the MEO). The other four were private corporations. The winner, announced on February 1st, 2005, was Lockheed Martin. The take-over was eventually set for October 4th, 2005. As of that date, FSS services will no longer be provided by the government, but by Lockheed Martin.
Every A-76 contest allows for a protest period, which is usually taken advantage of by one or more of the losers. Since this was the largest, most complicated non-defense outsourcing ever done, a protest by one of the losing parties was considered a foregone conclusion. The question was what would happen if the MEO lost? Would the FAA in effect protest its own decision? In the end, the FAA’s Vice President for FSS, Jim Washington, did file a protest. So did Kate Breen, President of the FSS controller’s union, the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS). This was a first; never before had employees been allowed to file their own protest. But that changed when the rules were revised in 2003 (more details can be found here). The Judge has since issued his opinion on the protest, which will remain under seal until Administrator Blakey declares her response and follow-up actions.
Upon the announcement of the award, NAATS also began lobbying on Capitol Hill for changes and delays, as well as pursuing legal challenges in the courts...
I’ve presented a rather sketchy version of events. Much detail has been left out, and as many questions may be created in the mind of the reader as answers that have been provided. Over the next week or two, I’ll touch on more of the specifics.
Over the course of the following year, a contract was written up, and five interested bidders qualified as viable contestants. One of these was the FAA itself, paired with Harris Corporation, and known as the ‘Most Efficient Organization’ (MEO) in A-76-speak (every government entity bidding in such a contest to keep its own work in-house is referred to as the MEO). The other four were private corporations. The winner, announced on February 1st, 2005, was Lockheed Martin. The take-over was eventually set for October 4th, 2005. As of that date, FSS services will no longer be provided by the government, but by Lockheed Martin.
Every A-76 contest allows for a protest period, which is usually taken advantage of by one or more of the losers. Since this was the largest, most complicated non-defense outsourcing ever done, a protest by one of the losing parties was considered a foregone conclusion. The question was what would happen if the MEO lost? Would the FAA in effect protest its own decision? In the end, the FAA’s Vice President for FSS, Jim Washington, did file a protest. So did Kate Breen, President of the FSS controller’s union, the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS). This was a first; never before had employees been allowed to file their own protest. But that changed when the rules were revised in 2003 (more details can be found here). The Judge has since issued his opinion on the protest, which will remain under seal until Administrator Blakey declares her response and follow-up actions.
Upon the announcement of the award, NAATS also began lobbying on Capitol Hill for changes and delays, as well as pursuing legal challenges in the courts...
I’ve presented a rather sketchy version of events. Much detail has been left out, and as many questions may be created in the mind of the reader as answers that have been provided. Over the next week or two, I’ll touch on more of the specifics.
# posted by Skywise @ 7:47 AM 
