Staffing Standards for Aviation Safety Inspectors (2007) / Chapter Skim
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3 Approaches to Staffing
3 Approaches to Staffing
Pages 46-64
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From page 46... ...
offices of the FAA have engaged in several efforts to improve the approaches they use to determine levels of staffing for aviation safety inspectors. Although referred to internally as "staffing standards," they all fall within the committee's definition of staffing models discussed in Chapter 2 and constitute efforts to represent the human resources "need structure" as conceptualized there.
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From page 47... ...
Concurrent changes in the nation's aviation environment have presented the FAA with a number of significant challenges in this effort. These include: · variations in workload drivers and work environments across the regions and the individual facilities in which aviation safety inspectors work, · changes over time in the geographic distribution of workload, along with the costs and morale issues associated with relocating personnel and offices to adapt to such changes, · changes in the skills required of inspectors driven by changes in the aviation industry and the FAA's approach to maintaining aviation safety, and · resource constraints as the FAA has absorbed reductions in funding, either absolute or in proportion to expanding aviation operations.
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From page 48... ...
Although LDR has not been proposed as a source of model data, we note these features as a caution, in case other recording systems are discontinued or changed in ways that make them unsuitable data sources and LDR becomes the sole documentation of task performance times. Other difficulties that arise in the use of any labor reporting system data as input to represent workload in staffing models result from the fact that only the
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From page 49... ...
The FAA publication Position Classification Guide for Aviation Safety Inspector Positions (Air Carrier and General Aviation) -- FG-1825 (Federal Aviation Administration, 1998)
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From page 50... ...
Both the holistic model and ASAM are described in detail later in this chapter. Staffing Models in AIR In AIR, a different staffing approach is used for manufacturing inspectors.1 A staffing model for AIR was developed in the mid-1990s and first implemented in 1997 through updates to Order 1380.49, Staffing Standards for Aviation Safety Inspectors (see Order 1380.49D, 2002, for the current version)
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From page 51... ...
Analysis of the ASAM The purpose of the ASAM is to improve the allocation of ASI and other AFS staffing resources across regions and across offices within regions in AFS. It does this by providing an estimate of total staffing requirements for flight standards district offices, certificate management offices in the region, and international field offices (Federal Aviation Administration, 2005c)
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From page 52... ...
Model Parameters and Logic The ASAM model builds staffing demand from the bottom up, relying heavily on two types of relationships. The first consists of a large number of identities representing "core" staffing principles that were established by definition, by custom, or by simple rules of thumb (e.g., one manager per field office)
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From page 53... ...
The first is a staffing questionnaire, versions of which are administered at the district and field office levels (Federal Aviation Administration, 2004c)
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From page 54... ...
C+D (Code G) Table 2: Aviation Accidents / Incidents [CodeG_Hours]
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From page 55... ...
APPROACHES TO STAFFING 55 Authorized or Actual Number Derived Value Notes Derived from =IF([CodeE]
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From page 56... ...
However, the Position Classification Guide: Aviation Safety Inspector Positions (Federal Aviation Administration, 1998) states that "the complexity report is used to determine the complexity of an individual inspector's assignment, not to make conclusions regarding the overall staffing needs of an office" (part VII, Position Management)
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From page 57... ...
The demand for aviation safety inspectors is estimated in the holistic model by estimating the activities of inspectors by 13 office types5 and the three categories of tasks -- required, planned, and demand -- discussed earlier. Basic factors affecting the demand for work, such as the number of certificates, public use airports, and aircraft, generate the demand for various activities.
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From page 58... ...
As demand factors change, the model would be responsive and estimates of staffing requirements would change. In principle, it could help estimate changes in staffing demand as aggregate workload changes and as relative workload shifts among regions and field offices.
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From page 59... ...
Model Data Sources The holistic model relies on a combination of administrative databases and survey data collected from the regions and field offices. The administrative databases include the PTRS, which tracks and documents much of the workload, including the required and planned items, performed by the regions and field offices.
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From page 60... ...
The time to perform the activities is provided through PTRS and through the field office survey. Based on estimates of average time to perform an activity, staffing demand is estimated by dividing the total demand for activities by the average yearly hours available for work per inspector.
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From page 61... ...
Because of the proprietary nature of staffing for any business, we had a very limited opportunity to review and document staffing models from private industry. However, we were able to review a number of public-sector manpower planning models, tools, and processes that resemble the ASI staffing situation in at least some respects.
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From page 62... ...
Since staffing models per se apparently do not generalize, our focus shifted from a search for proven alternatives to a consideration of generic model characteristics with reference to the ASI staffing situation. This refocused review, coupled with the committee's experience, revealed only two important, broadly shared characteristics.
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From page 63... ...
Most importantly, both the composition of the ATCS jobs and the context in which they are carried out are considerably more homogeneous than the wide array of ASI jobs and work settings. In sum, the committee believes that the current ATCS staffing standards are not a useful source of improvements to the AFS staffing methodology.
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From page 64... ...
On the basis of these analyses, we therefore conclude that neither modifying current FAA models nor adapting those from the outside represents the most cost-effective strategy for the much-needed upgrading of the ASI staffing process. Although there is much to be gained from the ASAM and holistic efforts, we think that the present and anticipated future ASI staffing situation calls for development of an entirely new model.
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