Aviation Weather Services: A Call For Federal Leadership and Action (1995)
Chapter: Chapter 7: The First Step
7
The First Step
Reaffirming and reinforcing the FAA's leadership role is the essential first step to implementing widespread improvements in aviation weather services and related research.
This report contains a variety of recommendations for increasing aviation safety and efficiency by improving the federal government's ability to satisfy the needs of aviation weather users. However, as discussed in Chapter 6, the recommendation for the FAA to assume a strong leadership role is the foundation for all of the committee's other recommendations. This approach may seem simplistic, but it reflects the uncomplicated nature of the key shortcoming in the U.S. aviation weather system. The current system suffers primarily from a lack of coordination and focus. Strong leadership is needed to put in place a vigorous process for evaluating and implementing alternatives for improving the aviation weather system. Without this leadership, recent experience indicates that actions that could dramatically improve the effectiveness of aviation weather services and related research are not likely to take place in a timely fashion, if at all.
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Major Recommendation 9 The federal government should place a high priority on reaffirming and reinforcing the leadership role of the FAd and the supporting roles of other agencies. |
Recommendation: As a first step in improving aviation weather services and related research, the committee suggests the following timeline:
- Within 3 months of the release of this report, the FAA should implement the committee's recommendation to designate an associate administrator to assume overall responsibility for carrying out the FAA's lead agency role (see Chapter 6, page 56).
- Within 6 months, the executive branch should replace OMB Circular A-62, which has been rescinded without replacement, by issuing "policy guidelines and procedures for planning and conducting Federal meteorological services and applied research and development to improve such services" (OMB Circular A-62; see Chapter 2, page 16, and Appendix D, page 78).
- Within 9 months, the FAA and NOAA/NWS should comply with their existing memorandum of agreement regarding the provision of aviation weather services, or they should implement a new agreement (see Chapter 2, pages 16–19).
- Within 12 months, with the assistance of the OFCM, the FAd should prepare a definitive 5-year integrated plan specifying the objectives, strategies, schedule, phasing, and budgets needed to achieve an improved aviation weather system. This plan should be developed with inputs from other government agencies and the user community.
References
OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Circular A-62, November 13, 1963.
