Following an 18-month audit of the FAA overflight fee program, the Department of Transportation Inspector General (DOT IG) has concluded that the system suffers serious oversight and operational problems. In 1996, the agency was given the authority to charge fees to operators that fly in U.S.-controlled airspace but do not depart or land in the U.S. However, several airlines and air transport associations have sued the FAA, stating that the agency lacked a reliable method for determining overflight fees, and the courts frequently overturned the FAA’s practices.

Accordingly, the DOT IG initiated this audit in 2016 to assess the FAA’s policies and procedures for ensuring that overflight fees are accurately computed, exceptions are appropriately applied, and fees are collected on a timely basis. The DOT IG said it found invoices for millions of dollars, but the FAA “does not have sufficient policies and procedures to ensure those fees are computed accurately.” Moreover, the agency provides “little oversight to the contractor who determines which flights are charged overflight fees and only minimal support to the personnel who generate the invoices.”

The FAA’s policies and procedures also do not explain when to apply exceptions to the requirement to send invoices only when monthly overflight fees are equal to or exceed $250. As a result, some users have been billed incorrectly, said the IG. As a result of its findings, the DOT IG issued six recommendations to help the FAA “strengthen its internal controls and ensure the accuracy, appropriateness, and collection of overflight fees.”

In response to the findings, the FAA said it “fully concurs” with all six recommendations and plans to complete implementation by April 30, 2018.