Is Regulatory Oversight of Aviation Dysfunctional?
- The United States has the safest air transportation system in the world. Flying in aircraft, whether large airliners or small private propeller aircraft, gets safer each year. The overwhelming majority of us in this business work increase levels of safety every day not only becuase it’s good for business, but also because we genuinely care about safety
- Throughout the years of working with the FAA I have had the privilege of working with many dedicated and caring people who take their jobs seriously and want to make the industry safer.
Now that we have the positives out there let’s talk about the problems.
As in any federal government agency, there is a level of bureaucracy in the FAA that creates inefficiency. Inefficiency in an organization happens when people are put into positions of leadership for any reason other than their ability to effectively lead. In business, eventually the economic pressure of the market weeds out the inefficiency, one way or another. In government, the inefficiency is often rewarded and propagated. Now go to the top of the organization where the leader is appointed by the politician who knows nothing about the organization. And the politicians are criticizing the corporate board structure and its lack of oversight in business? Mix it all up with a little congressional (politicized) oversight from more people who don’t really understand the issues and you get a dysfunctional organization.
In business, dysfunctional organizations fail, even when they have really good people trying hard to ensure success. They fail not because of the good, caring and competent people showing up every day working hard; they fail because of incompetent leadership.
On the other hand, dysfunctional government organizations don’t fail. They just keep going (and going and going). And maybe at some point the organization gets lucky and a leader is inserted who makes incremental change for the good of the organization.
Our beloved FAA is no different than any other federal regulatory agency. Many good people showing up every day trying to do the right things and a few bad people who don’t do the right things.
In spite of this dysfunctional regulatory system, our industry gets safer every year. Why? Because of those good people in the agency who do care, and the aviation professionals on our side who really care about the lives of those who trust us and get in back of our airplanes every day.
There is no simple solution that will come out of a congressional hearing (i.e. political rhetoric) on this. The solution is in the constant and constructive conversations between the industry and those entrusted with oversight.
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