Staffing Standards for Aviation Safety Inspectors (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-10
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House of Representatives responded to these concerns by mandating the current study in the Vision 100 -- Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act. The Committee on FAA Aviation Safety Inspector Staffing Standards was consequently established at the National Research Council to examine the models and methods used to determine inspector staffing needs for these two FAA units.
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Critically examine the current staffing standards for FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors and the assumptions underlying those standards. The committee will confine its study to ASIs only; other inspector jobs will not be considered.
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Since the level of effort required to address these human resources and personnel management issues extends well beyond this committee's charge and resources, yet is so critical to the ultimate goal, we deemed it our responsibility to articulate clearly the need while focusing our attention on the specific charge. The committee, therefore, proceeded to develop criteria for key features and functions of a staffing model to meet the FAA's needs.
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FAA Human Resource Management Practices The committee's first goal is to "critically examine staffing standards for FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors and the assumptions underlying those standards." We detected the following qualitative issues related to current human resources (as distinguished from manpower) management practices that were intrinsically linked to the determination of the demand for aviation safety inspectors, and that should be addressed before the development of a staffing model is attempted: · new knowledge demands of system safety approaches, · new skill demands to support new ways of working with industry, · new and continuing technology knowledge demands, · failure of job specifications to adequately capture current job requirements or to accommodate changes, and · lack of job performance criteria.
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Conclusions In reviewing the two comprehensive models of staffing demand-ASAM and the aborted Holistic Staffing Model -- against the features we consider essential, the committee concludes that both fall short in certain areas. ASAM, as currently structured, appears deficient in at least the following respects: · It does not predict the consequences of staffing shortfalls at any level, a primary criterion for most staffing models.
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They include airport security staffing, distributed service networks, Air Force manpower assessments, Army manpower analysis and modeling, Navy manpower modeling, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state courts, and the FAA's Air Traffic Controller staffing model.
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Model Development in Light of Unit Differences Conclusions The staffing situations in the two FAA units responsible for aviation safety are markedly different. With over 3,400 inspectors widely distributed across functional and geographical job domains and the obvious deficiencies in its ASAM model, AFS is clearly in a position to benefit from (and justify the cost involved in)
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However, weighing it against the long-term benefits afforded by a model capable of estimating overall staffing needs, optimal distribution, and understaffing consequences, we recommend making that investment, after careful consideration of the factors discussed below.
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Cost. It was difficult for the committee to estimate the cost of designing, developing, operating, and maintaining a staffing model for aviation safety inspectors with the information available to us, and the estimate presented here necessarily is based on assumptions about the modeling environment.
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Resources. The committee's sense is that one of the failings of past staffing models is that they required a commitment of resources for development, maintenance, and use beyond what FAA or AFS management was able or willing to provide.
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