Ftw FSS specialist voiced concern regarding contractor cost saving measures that results in lack of ...

Narrative:

The situation directly involves the contract between the FAA and lockheed martin. Safety of flight has become a critical issue. This morning; due to an enormous problem with lockheed martin trying to save money on the failing contract; no one in management assigned the positions of minneapolis or kansas city flight watch to an individual. The specialists who were on duty did not initially report the situation because of new procedures which had taken place in the morning. I; and other employees; only assumed that there was not enough money to staff the position. There has been such a focus on briefing pilots on the ground; that the company no longer staffs positions according to safety of flight but rather according to meeting the FAA requirements for bonuses. Recently; I have had to work my positions with broken equipment to include outdated charts; invalid airmets and other weather data; and broken emergency radios. On most days; the equipment of the facility fails several times during a day; sometimes during periods of severe weather. The company does have backup systems but in most cases the data contained in these systems cannot be verified since the disclaimers state to contact flight service for verification. A recent complaint by an airport manager at the ZZZ airport; where a jet landed at the closed airport; is an example of the lack of safety at all of the flight service stations. This has not been the first time there were scheduling issues in which the safety of pilots has been of concern. The equipment to find and orientate lost aircraft only works half of the time; and management is aware that most employees do not know how to use the certified equipment. Even with my complaints to management over this and other issues; they still have not provided me with equipment which does work or have not provided the charts necessary in case there is an emergency. I am hoping someone will take action because the staffing levels will possibly cause an aircraft accident in the near future.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FTW FSS specialist voiced concern regarding contractor cost saving measures that results in lack of position staffing numbers and inadequate equipment; the reporter claiming safety of flight issues are becoming critical.

Narrative: The situation directly involves the contract between the FAA and Lockheed Martin. Safety of flight has become a critical issue. This morning; due to an enormous problem with Lockheed Martin trying to save money on the failing contract; no one in management assigned the positions of Minneapolis or Kansas City Flight Watch to an individual. The specialists who were on duty did not initially report the situation because of new procedures which had taken place in the morning. I; and other employees; only assumed that there was not enough money to staff the position. There has been such a focus on briefing pilots on the ground; that the company no longer staffs positions according to safety of flight but rather according to meeting the FAA requirements for bonuses. Recently; I have had to work my positions with broken equipment to include outdated charts; invalid AIRMETS and other weather data; and broken emergency radios. On most days; the equipment of the facility fails several times during a day; sometimes during periods of severe weather. The company does have backup systems but in most cases the data contained in these systems cannot be verified since the disclaimers state to contact flight service for verification. A recent complaint by an airport manager at the ZZZ airport; where a jet landed at the closed airport; is an example of the lack of safety at all of the Flight Service Stations. This has not been the first time there were scheduling issues in which the safety of pilots has been of concern. The equipment to find and orientate lost aircraft only works half of the time; and management is aware that most employees do not know how to use the certified equipment. Even with my complaints to management over this and other issues; they still have not provided me with equipment which does work or have not provided the charts necessary in case there is an emergency. I am hoping someone will take action because the staffing levels will possibly cause an aircraft accident in the near future.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	875269
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	FTW.FSS
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Flight Service
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Military 6 Air Traffic Control Radar 6 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (mon) 3 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Ftw FSS specialist voiced concern regarding contractor cost saving measures that results in lack of position staffing numbers and inadequate equipment; the reporter claiming safety of flight issues are becoming critical.