FAA Gets High Marks for Deployment of Satellite-Based Surveillance System

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The agency’s roll-out of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B), the satellite-based surveillance system that will play an important role in the Next Generation Air Transportation System, received high marks by the project management tool required by the Office of Management and Budget for federal contracts valued at $10 million or more.

The Earned Value Management program assesses how federal agencies are managing large projects in terms of actual progress versus expected progress. It gives FAA and organizations that oversee the agency a common set of reliable performance metrics to track how well ITT Corp., the prime contractor for ADS-B, is doing with regards to schedule and cost.

ITT Corp., which received a $1.8 billion contract over 18 years, was awarded a score of .97 out of a possible 1 for being nearly perfect in keeping with its schedule as it rolls out the ADS-B ground infrastructure. Ground stations have already been commissioned in South Florida, meaning that pilots with ADS-B avionics are now receiving free traffic and weather broadcasts. The company received an above-perfect score of 1.04 for being under budget.

The tool serves as an important early warning signal. Earned Value Management statistics compiled on thousands of federal projects since it was developed in the 1960s show that projects over budget and behind schedule one-third through the program life cycle seldom recover.