ASSIGNMENT ON

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

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SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Ankita Pareek

SUBMITTED BY: Ankita Malik Santosh Bishnoi

Federal Aviation Administration

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Seal of the Federal Aviation Administration Agency overview Formed Preceding agency Jurisdiction August 23, 1958 Civil Aeronautics Administration United States Government

Annual budget 15.956 billion USD (FY2010) Agency executive Parent agency Michael Huerta (Acting), Administrator United States Department of Transportation Website Official website

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FAA

The modern age of powered flight began in 1903, when Orville Wright made the first sustained, powered flight on December 17 in a plane he and his brother Wilbur built. This twelve-second flight led to the development of the first practical airplane in 1905, and launched worldwide efforts to build better flying machines. As a result, the early twentieth century witnessed myriad aviation developments as new planes and technologies entered service. During World War I, the airplane also proved its effectiveness as a military tool and, with the advent of early airmail service, showed great promise for commercial applications. Despite limited post-World War I technical developments, early aviation remained a dangerous business. Flying conditions proved difficult since the only navigation devices available to most pilots were magnetic compasses. Pilots flew 200 to 500 feet above ground so they could navigate by roads and railways. Low visibility and night landings were made using bonfires on the field as lighting. Fatal accidents were routine. The Air Mail Act of 1925 facilitated the creation of a profitable commercial airline industry, and airline companies such as Pan American Airways, Western Air Express, and Ford Air Transport Service began scheduled commercial passenger service. By the mid-1930s, the four major domestic airlines that dominated commercial travel for most of the twentieth century began operations: United, American, Eastern, and Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA). As air travel increased, some airport operators, hoping to improve safety, began providing an early form of air traffic control (ATC) based on visual signals. Early controllers stood on the field and waved flags to communicate with pilots. Archie League, the system's first flagmen, began work in the late 1920s at the airfield in St. Louis, Missouri.

BIRTH OF FEDERAL AVIATION AGENCY

On May 21, 1958, Senator A. S. "Mike" Monroney (D-OK) introduced a bill to create an independent Federal Aviation Agency to provide for the safe and efficient use of national airspace. Two month later, on August 23, 1958, the President signed the Federal Aviation Act, which transferred the Civil Aeronautics Authority's functions to a new independent Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) responsible for civil aviation safety. Although FAA technically came into existence with the passage of the act, it actually assumed its functions in stages. Under the provisions of the act, the FAA would begin operations 60 days after the appointment of the first FAA Administrator. On November 1, 1958, retired Air Force General Elwood "Pete" Quesada became the first FAA Administrator. Sixty days later, on December 31, FAA began operations. With no dedicated office space for the FAA, employees of the growing agency were housed in several widely dispersed buildings around Washington, DC, including some "temporary" buildings of World War II vintage. The FAA worked to obtain a headquarters building to consolidate employees in one location, and on November 22, 1963, FAA's Washington headquarters staff began moving into the newly completed Federal Office Building 10A, at 800 Independence Avenue, SW. Excitement about the new building quickly evaporated on move day as employees heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Texas.

FROM AGENCY TO ADMINISTRATION

President Johnson, concerned about the lack of a coordinated transportation system, believed a single department was needed to develop and carry out comprehensive transportation policies and programs across all transportation modes. In 1966, Congress authorized the creation of a cabinet department that would combine major Federal transportation responsibilities. This new Department of Transportation (DOT) began full operations on April l, 1967. On that day, the Federal Aviation Agency became one of several modal organizations within DOT and received a new name, the Federal Aviation Administration. At the same time, Civil Aeronautics Board's accident investigation function was transferred to the new National Transportation Safety Board.

CREATION OF FAA'S AIR TRAFFIC ORGANIZATION (ATO)

In April 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, which contained a provision mandating the appointment of a chief operating officer. In a December executive order, the president directed FAA to create a performance-based organization that focused solely on efficient operation of the air traffic control system. In June 2003, FAA selected its first ATO Chief Operating Officer (COO), Russell Chew. With the COO in place, FAA went forward with a major reorganization of its air traffic and research and acquisition organizations. On November 18, 2003, the Secretary of Transportation announced initial details of the new ATO business structure. The ATO consolidated FAA's air traffic services, research and acquisitions, and Free Flight Program activities into a smaller, more efficient organization with a strict focus on providing the best service for the best value to the aviation industry and the traveling public. The ATO officially began operations on February 8, 2004. It consisted of five major service units: En Route & Oceanic; Terminal; Flight Services; System Operations; and, Technical Operations. Also included within the

organization's top level are five staff-level business groups: Safety; Communications; Operations Planning; Finance; and Acquisition and Business Services. In 2008, the ATO consolidated the service units and staff offices into four business units, each led by a senior vice president. In line with other agency efforts to improve efficiency, in December 2005, the COO restructured ATO administrative and support functions in the field. In June 2006, he instituted a new ATO Service Center structure. Three service centers replaced the nine service area offices within En Route, Terminal, and Technical Operations. Each of the service centers was made up of five functional groups: administrative services, business services, safety assurance, system support, and planning and requirements. A sixth group, engineering services was a shared resource and remained in place in the existing locations. With the ATO structure in place, the agency's first COO resigned from FAA on February 23, 2007. Administrator Marion Blakey assigned COO responsibilities to Deputy Administrator Robert Sturgell as collateral duties until a new COO came on board. On October 1, 2007, Administrator Blakey hired the agency's second COO, Hank Krakowski.

ORGANIZATION OF THE FAA

An Administrator manages FAA, assisted by a Deputy Administrator. Five Associate Administrators report to the Administrator and direct the line-ofbusiness organizations that carry out the agency's principle functions. The Chief Counsel and nine Assistant Administrators also report to the Administrator. The Assistant Administrators oversee other key programs such as Human Resources, Budget, and System Safety. We also have nine geographical regions and two major centers, the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center and the William J. Hughes Technical Center. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of civil aviation; it is functions as agency within the US Department of Transportation.

OUR MISSION
Our continuing mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.

OUR VISION
We strive to reach the next level of safety, efficiency, environmental responsibility and global leadership. We are accountable to the American public and our stakeholders.

OUR VALUES
Safety is our passion. We work so all air and space travelers arrive safely at their destinations. Excellence is our promise. We seek results that embody professionalism, transparency and accountability. Integrity is our touchstone. We perform our duties honestly, with moral soundness, and with the highest level of ethics. People are our strength. Our success depends on the respect, diversity, collaboration, and commitment of our workforce. Innovation is our signature. We foster creativity and vision to provide solutions beyond today's boundaries.

FUNCTIONS
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Analyzes and evaluates new or proposed navigation concepts for compatibility with existing, or planned instrument procedure design criteria. Analyzes and evaluates the execution of instrument flight procedures programs within the FAA to determine compliance with established policy. Assesses impact on safety of proposed changes to the NAS utilizing the Airspace Simulation and Analysis for TERPS (ASAT) computer system. Defines responsibilities, establishes policy, and provides standards to ensure an orderly processing of all instrument flight procedure actions. Develops and establishes criteria for civil and military terminal instrument procedures for issuance in the FAA Handbook 8260.3, United States Standard for Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS), and related FAA 8260-series orders. Develops national and international standards and criteria governing the operational use of air navigation facilities and systems utilized in the navigation of aircraft. Develops national and international standards and policies for instrument flight procedure risk assessment and risk management. Develops rules, standards, policies, and criteria governing the operational aspects of en route, terminal, and instrument flight procedures (except air traffic control procedures). Establishes requirements and provides policy guidance to the regional flight standards offices, military, cartographic agencies, and other organizations pertaining to the procurement and utilization of aviation data, including FAA No. 405, Standards for Aeronautical Surveys and Related Products.

Evaluates changes and enhancements of airport rules regarding obstacles, equipment, and holding/taxiing aircraft relative to their impact on the safety of instrument approach operations. Evaluates from operational and technical viewpoints, provides necessary coordination, and recommends final approval or disapproval on requests for waiver of standards for terminal and en route instrument flight procedures. Evaluates the operational acceptability of changes and enhancements to air traffic rules, and procedures, and determines their impact on the safety of instrument flight procedures. Flight System Laboratory (FSL) evaluates the feasibility and safety associated with various operational requirements. Maintains liaison and collaborates with other Government agencies, and with military, industry, and international representatives to exchange information and advance the state-of-the-art in the application of operations research techniques and collision risk methodology to for en route and terminal instrument flight procedures. Maintains technical and functional oversight responsibility for the Flight Standards Service regional all weather operations programs, and provides policy for the conduct of these programs. Performs operational evaluation, including simulation and in-flight testing of standards and criteria proposed for en route and terminal instrument flight procedures and navigation systems. Provides the division focal point for Human Factors issues relating to the establishment and charting of instrument flight procedures. Provides advisors, members, and Flight Standards Service representation to ICAO panels, RTCA committees, SAE bodies, FAA, and other Government program offices, and to industry, as required.

Provides management of Flight Standards Service R&D programs established to support development of instrument flight procedures standards and criteria. Provides policy guidance to the regional flight standards offices, military, cartographic agencies, and other organizations pertaining to the development and charting of instrument flight procedures Provides policy guidance to the regional offices, Aviation System Standards (AVN), and other organizations pertaining to airport and airspace requirements associated with the development of instrument flight procedures. Provides technical advice and assistance to other FAA elements, other Government agencies, and to industry on the interpretation and application of instrument flight procedure design criteria. Provides technical evaluation and risk assessment of instrument operations not covered by standard criteria. Represents the Flight Standards Service in international meetings to further U.S. interests, to develop International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) related to instrument flight procedures, and to set navigation equipment standards impacting instrument flight procedure standards and criteria. Maintains liaison with foreign civil aviation operational and technical authorities to encourage the acceptance of U.S. instrument flight procedures standards and to foster standards with a level of safety consonant with those of the United States U.S. Reviews accident, incident, and enforcement investigations involving instrument flight procedures, and recommends appropriate corrective action.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FAA INCLUDE:

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Regulating civil aviation to promote safety within the U.S. and abroad. The FAA exchanges information with foreign aviation authorities; certifies foreign aviation repair shops, air crews, and mechanics; provides technical aid and training; negotiates bilateral airworthiness agreements with other countries; and takes part in international conferences. Encouraging and developing civil aeronautics, including new aviation technology. Developing and operating a system of air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft. Researching and developing the National Airspace System and civil aeronautics. Developing and carrying out programs to control aircraft noise and other environmental effects of civil aviation. Regulating U.S. commercial space transportation. The FAA licenses commercial space launch facilities and private launches of space payloads on expendable launch vehicles.

Investigation of aviation incidents, accidents and disasters is conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent government agency.

CRITICISM
Many experts on FAA have been critical of what they perceive as fundamental problems with the agency in conducting oversight on the airlines and pilots, predicated on the belief, as expressed by FAA itself, that both the airlines and pilots are their customers. Retired NASA Office of Inspector General Senior Special Agent Joseph Gutheinz, who formerly was a Special Agent with both the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and FAA Security, is one of the most outspoken critics of FAA. Rather than commend the agency for imposing a 10.2 million dollar fine against Southwest Airlines for its failure to conduct mandatory inspections in 2008, he was quoted as saying the following in an Associated Press story: "Penalties against airlines that violate FAA directives should be stiffer. At $25,000 per violation, (which is how the 10.2 million dollar figure was reached) Gutheinz said, airlines can justify rolling the dice and taking the chance on getting caught. He also said the FAA is often too quick to bend to pressure from airlines and pilots. Other experts have been critical of the constraints and expectations of the under which the FAA is expected to operate. The dual role of encouraging aerospace travel and regulating aerospace travel are counter intuitive. For example; to levy a heavy penalty upon an airline for violating an FAA regulation which would impact their ability to continue operating would not be considered, encouraging aerospace travel. Risk and safety management author David Soucie who served 17 years as a safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration including 4 years in the FAA headquarters office in Washington DC.

CONCLUSION
Over the past 50 years aviation has become central to the way we live and do business, linking people from coast to coast and connecting America to the world. In fact, FAA has created the safest, most reliable, most efficient, and most productive air transportation system in the world. To ensure aviation's future viability, FAA is now working with its federal and industry partners to develop a flexible aerospace system that fully responds to the changing needs of businesses and customers in the 21st Century. The strength of the NextGen system depends on lower costs, improved service, greater capacity, and smarter security measures. That is why FAA has defined a vision of the future that integrates achievements in safety, security, efficiency, and environmental compatibility.