Lanterna Rally

Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G

Publisher: BiblioGov

Published: 2013-06

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781289131357

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) use of letters of intent (LOI) to fund projects under its Airport Improvement Program (AIP). GAO found that: (1) FAA has significantly increased its use of LOI to fund AIP projects since fiscal year 1988 and plans to double the amount of LOI in fiscal years 1994 through 1999; (2) LOI constitute an increasing percentage of total AIP obligations; (3) LOI use has increased because airport sponsors can avoid competing with other projects for funds in future years and LOI are more flexible than AIP single-year or multiyear grants; (4) FAA could more effectively manage its LOI by ensuring that they are used to significantly improve airport capacity, establishing criteria defining a significant improvement, and establishing program performance goals and measurements; (5) FAA has not analyzed how projects funded under LOI affect the national airport system; (6) FAA has used LOI without congressional approval to fund projects at small airports and auxiliary airport facilities because it could not issue multiyear grants; (7) FAA has incorrectly assumed that AIP discretionary funds would not decrease and has not reserved sufficient discretionary funds to meet the immediate needs of the national airport system; and (8) FAA failure to pay LOI on time and in full can jeopardize new LOI-backed bond financing.