Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) internal controls and management practices to ensure district offices' compliance with national work program guidance regarding aircraft maintenance and pilot training inspection requirements.

GAO found that FAA: (1) developed the computer-based Work Program Management Subsystem (WPMS) to serve as a management tool for recording inspection requirements, plans, and results; (2) lacked adequate oversight to detect district offices' inadequate implementation of national inspection guidance, failure to follow FAA inspection policies and practices, and entry of inaccurate and incomplete information into WPMS; (3) used inaccurate and incomplete WPMS data in reporting its inspection accomplishments to Congress; (4) district staff did not enter into WPMS half of the inspections required for national work goals; (5) lacked adequate management oversight to ensure that district offices correctly entered data into WPMS; (6) planned to enhance WPMS hardware and software that did not address data accuracy problems; and (7) inspectors and supervisors who lack confidence in WPMS as an effective management tool to plan and record inspections have established their own handwritten or computer systems to perform the functions WPMS should perform.