Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should clarify in the SCASDP evaluation plan how reviewers should assess a grant application's alignment with the priority and secondary selection criteria and assign the application rating categories. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of DOT's Office of Aviation Analysis should provide periodic external reporting, at a time interval DOT determines appropriate, to the public and policymakers, on the effects of antitrust immunity—based on the range of monitoring activities undertaken by DOT—including whether grants of immunity have achieved anticipated benefits and the status of remedies—such as airport slot divestitures—imposed as part of DOT's approval. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Office of Aviation Analysis
Status: Open

Comments: In September 2020, DOT provided information on updates to how research and other information on antitrust immunity is shared on its web site. We are reviewing this information to determine if it is sufficient to close the recommendation.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should assess the feasibility and cost of updating its airline case management system to address data and reporting limitations, and to undertake those updates that are cost effective and feasible. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to update its case management tracking system. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should establish performance measures for each of its objectives for its five key airline-compliance activities. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to establish appropriate performance measures. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should capture feedback directly from airline passengers or identify other mechanisms to capture passengers' perspectives to inform DOT's education efforts. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to capture feedback directly from consumers. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Office of the Secretary should develop performance measures for DOT's efforts to educate airline passengers. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to develop appropriate performance measures for DOT's efforts to educate airline passengers. As of June, 2020, DOT has not provided an update regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. DOT indicated the agency would provide a response in the coming months, citing delays with workloads due to COVID-19. Once DOT provides a response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretaries of Defense and of Transportation should address ADS-B Out security concerns by approving one or more solutions that address ADS-B Out -related security risks or incorporating mitigations for security risks into the existing draft memorandum of agreement. These approved solutions should address operations, physical, cyber-attack, and electronic warfare security risks; and risks associated with divesting secondary-surveillance radars. The solution or mitigations should be approved as soon as possible in order to allow sufficient time for implementation.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2018, DOD and the FAA signed a memorandum of agreement that that establishes a framework for DOD and FAA to jointly address the provision to allow certain aircraft not to broadcast and airspace monitoring and defense security issues related to ADS-B, and identifies a path to fully address the recommendations in our report. The memorandum of agreement was a first step to address the security issues we highlighted in the report; however, FAA still needs to publish a National Procedural Guidance for accommodation of DOD needs for mixed-equipment operations and operational security concerns (expected December 2018).

Recommendation: The Secretaries of Defense and of Transportation should address ADS-B Out security concerns by approving one or more solutions that address ADS-B Out -related security risks or incorporating mitigations for security risks into the existing draft memorandum of agreement. These approved solutions should address operations, physical, cyber-attack, and electronic warfare security risks; and risks associated with divesting secondary-surveillance radars. The solution or mitigations should be approved as soon as possible in order to allow sufficient time for implementation.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2018, DOD and the FAA signed a memorandum of agreement that that establishes a framework for DOD and FAA to jointly address the provision to allow certain aircraft not to broadcast and airspace monitoring and defense security issues related to ADS-B, and identifies a path to fully address the recommendations in our report.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should direct DOD components to implement key tasks that would facilitate consistent, long-term planning and implementation of NextGen--such as those tasks that the Deputy Secretary of Defense originally directed in 2007, or any tasks that the Secretary deems appropriate based on a current assessment of the original tasks.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2018, DOD has not taken action regarding the eight tasks GAO identified in the 2007 Deputy Secretary of Defense memorandum on ADS-B implementation.

Recommendation: To increase transparency and obtain information to better inform decisions on whether to investigate potentially unfair or deceptive practices in the air ambulance industry, the Secretary of Transportation should assess available federal and industry data and determine what further information could assist in the evaluation of future complaints or concerns regarding unfair or deceptive practices.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (the Act), signed into law on October 5, 2018, directed the establishment of an Air Ambulance and Patient Billing (AAPB) Advisory Committee. The Act also required the committee to make recommendations on a variety of topics, including what additional data from air ambulance providers and other sources should be collected by DOT to improve its understanding of the industry. On September 12, 2019, DOT announced the formation of the AAPB Advisory Committee, including the appointment of 13 members. The first meeting of the AAPB Advisory Committee was held in January 2020. Soon after this meeting, three subcommittees were established, including one on Disclosure and Distinction of Charges and Coverage for Air Ambulance Services and another on Prevention of Balance Billing. Subcommittee meetings began in March 2020, although given the impact of COVID-19, the subcommittee meets scheduled for April and May 2020 were postponed. Pursuant to the Act, the AAPB Advisory Committee is to submit a report containing its recommendations not later than 180 days after the date of its first meeting. GAO will continue to monitor the work of the AAPB Advisory Committee related to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To increase transparency and obtain information to better inform decisions on whether to investigate potentially unfair or deceptive practices in the air ambulance industry, the Secretary of Transportation should consider consumer disclosure requirements for air ambulance providers, which could include information such as established prices charged, business model and entity that establishes prices, and extent of contracting with insurance.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (the Act), signed into law on October 5, 2018, directed the establishment of an Air Ambulance and Patient Billing (AAPB) Advisory Committee. The Act also required the committee to make recommendations on a variety of topics, including the recommendations from this GAO report. On September 12, 2019, DOT announced the formation of the AAPB Advisory Committee, including the appointment of 13 members. The first meeting of the AAPB Advisory Committee was held in January 2020. Soon after this meeting, three subcommittees were established, including one on Disclosure and Distinction of Charges and Coverage for Air Ambulance Services and another on Prevention of Balance Billing. Subcommittee meetings began in March 2020, although given the impact of COVID-19, the subcommittee meets scheduled for April and May 2020 were postponed. Pursuant to the Act, the AAPB Advisory Committee is to submit a report containing its recommendations not later than 180 days after the date of its first meeting. GAO will continue to monitor the work of the AAPB Advisory Committee related to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To enhance FAA's risk-based approach for oversight of repair stations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to develop and implement a process in Flight Standards for incorporating into SAS the volume of critical maintenance that each U.S. airline contracts to repair stations.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: FAA did not concur with this recommendation. In July 2019, GAO confirmed that FAA does not plan to implement the recommendation because the agency continues to believe the subjective nature of volume of work makes it an ineffective risk indicator. However, the agency monitors many factors as primary risk indicators at repair stations. Many of these risk indicators are associated with important aspects of work volume such as high workforce turnover; changes in management; rapid growth or downsizing; changes in aircraft complexity/programs; financial conditions; age of fleet and increases in aircraft discrepancies. FAA considers these factors and the criticality of a specific maintenance action on an aircraft to be the most important risk indicators.

Recommendation: To enhance FAA's risk-based approach for oversight of repair stations, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to develop and implement an evaluative process with measurable performance goals and measures to determine the effectiveness of SAS as the SMS safety assurance component.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: In July 2019, GAO confirmed that FAA plans to develop overall program goals and metrics as part of the next implementation phase of its new Safety Assurance System. These metrics are expected to be fully developed based on the final design of the new system and the program requirements identified. Final system testing and deployment into production for the Safety Assurance System is expected to be completed by February 2021, with final implementation scheduled to be completed by May 2022. Additionally, prior to deploying the system, FAA plans to provide training courses to the aviation safety workforce who will be using the new system, and plans to issue new policy documentation in June 2020 that will be used to provide additional guidance to that workforce on properly using the system.

Recommendation: To help improve the U.S. aviation sector's preparedness for future communicable disease threats from abroad, the Secretary of Transportation should work with relevant stakeholders, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, to develop a national aviation-preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks. Such a plan could establish a mechanism for coordination between the aviation and public health sectors and provides clear and transparent planning assumptions for a variety of types and levels of communicable disease threats.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has not developed a national aviation-preparedness plan to respond to communicable disease threats from abroad. In June 2020, we urged Congress to take legislative action to require the Secretary of Transportation to work with relevant agencies and stakeholders to develop a national aviation-preparedness plan to limit the spread of communicable disease threats, and minimize travel and trade impacts (see GAO-20-625). GAO's periodic updates on the CARES Act of 2020 provide information about actions taken by Congress to address this matter. DOT partially concurs with our recommendation and agrees that an aviation preparedness plan is needed, but continues to suggest that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have responsibility for communicable disease response and preparedness planning, respectively, and that these departments should lead any efforts to address planning for communicable disease outbreaks, including for transportation. In the absence of a national aviation-preparedness plan, DOT officials point to ongoing efforts to engage with interagency partners at DHS and HHS, as well as industry stakeholders, to better collaborate on communicable disease response and preparedness as they relate to civil aviation. For example, in July 2020, DOT, HHS, and DHS issued guidance to airports and airlines for implementing measures to mitigate public health risks associated with COVID-19. While this guidance is a positive step, DOT has not yet taken action to develop an aviation preparedness plan for future communicable disease threats that incorporate such things as protocols for responding to the threat and coordination among stakeholders.