Federal Aviation Administration: Challenges Facing the Agency in Fiscal Year 2008 and Beyond

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

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Discusses six issues that are important in reauthorizing FAA programs: (1) Ensuring the safe and efficient transformation to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen); (2) Strengthening oversight of aviation safety: Incomplete and inaccurate safety data jeopardize FAA's implementation of a new safety management approach; (3) Reducing congestion and providing access to the national airspace system; (4) Addressing aviation's impact on the environment, including noise, emissions, and other pollutants; (5) Ensuring a sufficient, trained workforce; and (6) Ensuring timely reauthorization of FAA programs. Charts and tables.