The FAA is realigning its budget plans to implement a multi-part plan to improve its certification activities, agency Administrator Stephen Dickson told the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday. Dickson outlined a number of the efforts included in that plan, including the recent creation of an Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) office and the hiring of “specialized skilled” employees such as human factors experts and software engineers.

These efforts come in response to the intense scrutiny that the agency has come under in the wake of the Boeing 737 Max crashes and multiple reviews, including those of the Joint Authorities Technical Review and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Other efforts including the development of a new system that tracks employee training, qualifications, and certification to ensure the staff has the requisite knowledge for proper oversight.

Dickson said the FAA is looking for funding to properly staff the ODA office that was stood up over the past year. “While the ODA program has been in place since 2005, the creation of a single office supports standardized outcomes and improvements across the ODA program,” he explained in testimony to the committee.

In addition, the agency is looking to improve voluntary information-sharing programs such as Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) and the Aviation Safety Reporting Program, he said. “These programs are critical tools in the FAA’s toolbox, facilitating the collection of safety data that allows the FAA to identify trends and improve upon aviation safety.”

When asked about the recently introduced Aircraft Safety Improvement Act of 2020 that would require safety management systems for manufacturers and call for best practices for ODAs, Dickson told the committee that he believed many elements of the bill were “exactly on point” because it encourages systematic approaches, strong oversight, data-driven processes, and workforce resources.

“We must build on the lessons learned, and we must never allow ourselves to become complacent,” he said.