A $543 million Federal Aviation Administration contracting program is being dissolved after an audit found it was improperly managed by the agency, according to a Transportation Department inspector general’s report released this week.
Only 24 percent of the 114 contracts awarded for support services under the RESULTS program “benefited from competition” and half of all contracts were awarded with no competition, according to the audit. The IG found that most of the contracts lacking competition were awarded based on “manager’s preference for working with a known individual contractor, an unacceptable reason.”
Also, 10 of 11 contracts reviewed lacked any criteria to determine contractor performance, the audit found. The audit also found the program failed to meet its mission of providing FAA with faster, cheaper and better support services. Labor costs under the RESULTS program were $24 million to $44 million higher than those incurred under other FAA procurement programs.
The report notes that FAA has taken steps to dissolve the program by halting new contract awards, discontinuing the program Web site and terminating 12 contracts this year. The report recommended FAA use other, existing multiple-award programs to replace the contracts.
The investigation into the program began in 2005 with a request from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Finance Committee, and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
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