FAA rejects appeals of outsourcing decision

The Federal Aviation Administration late Wednesday rejected two challenges of its February decision to outsource about 2,500 federal flight service jobs.

The bid protests alleged procedural errors in the FAA's decision to award the work to Lockheed Martin Corp. They were filed in March at the agency's Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition by James Washington, the official representing the team that vied to keep the work in house, and National Association of Air Traffic Specialists President Kate Breen.

The challenges claimed that FAA officials who selected Lockheed as the winner of a public-private job competition penalized the in-house team for circumstances beyond its control and did not dock the contractor for such alleged shortcomings as a failure to certify equipment that would be introduced. These potential errors could have been substantial enough to reverse the decision, Washington and Breen argued.

But an independent judge recommended that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey deny the protests. In keeping with that advice-issued by Judge Edwin Neill of the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals in a decision that was more than 100 pages long-Blakey denied the appeals, said Greg Martin, an FAA spokesman.

Neill is an independent, highly-regarded judge and Blakey directed the dispute resolution office to take "every precaution" to ensure that the decision process was "entirely fair" to the employees involved, Martin said.

The decision would allow the FAA to continue with the planned October transfer of the flight service jobs. The specialists provide weather briefings, information on flight restrictions and other pre- and in-flight navigational advice, primarily for pilots flying private planes.

Under the FAA dispute resolution office's rules, losing parties have the option of appealing to a federal court.

Breen said Wednesday night that she is still "pondering" the decision. "I'm surprised the judge denied [the protest], because there was so much information that they had out there," she said, adding that she is not at all shocked that Blakey supported the ruling.

But Breen said she is confident that Neill was impartial. "All the intelligence we had on him is that he was very conscientious," she said. "So I can't question his integrity."

After reading the decision and getting advice from her lawyers, Breen will determine whether an appeal is worthwhile. Meanwhile, there are other chances to block the transfer of work to Lockheed, she said.

The House, for example, recently voted in favor of an amendment to the fiscal 2006 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill (H.R. 3058) that would prevent the FAA from giving the jobs to a contractor. The Senate is crafting its version of the bill this week.

"We'll just keep plugging away," Breen said.