The FAA subcontracts private corporations with controversial projects in order to insulate themselves from onerous tasks such as Environmental Impact Analysis, noise and flight delay modeling and to secure exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act.
Metron Aviation is one such company with a federally tax payer funded multi-million dollar contract with the FAA. Metron Aviation is being paid to find a solution to flight delay, and yet they just fired an employee for trying to solve flight delay.
Metron was tasked with completing noise and air traffic modeling for the airspace redesign in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The noise modeling used by the FAA then became subject of a landmark multi-million dollar lawsuit in 5 states which is still in litigation before the Supreme Court.
According to their website Metron Aviation is a private corporation staffed with mostly Ex FAA, ex-NASA and ex-MITRE officials and their client list looks fairly limited to government contracts.
This issue requires congressional oversight. GAO and OIG need to review FAA subcontracts and examine accountability, transparency and partnerships which may be impacting performance goals.
PR below:
NAPA, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Accused whistler-blower Dr. Frederick J. Foreman, former Senior Analyst for Metron Aviation Inc. (an aviation consulting company with numerous government contracts), who was fired for allegedly revealing critical information regarding airline passenger safety to Kate Hanni of the Flyers' Rights coalition, has joined forces with the volunteer organization.
Dr. Foreman, an MIT graduate and former professor at Florida A&M and Florida State Universities, was terminated from his job on September 25th of this year after contacting Kate Hanni regarding excessive surface delays. Foreman maintains that any information he sent Hanni was public data he collected from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Hanni, who founded the Flyers' Rights Organization after being stuck on the tarmac for nine hours in December of 2006, had been exchanging information regarding airport strandings with Dr. Foreman in order to find solutions, both for the flying public as well as Metron Aviation. Dr. Foreman asserts that he was unaware he was in violation of any laws or rules of the company.
Dr. Foreman claims that he not only was unlawfully terminated, but he and his family's private e-mails were illegally hacked. Foreman and his wife are presently considering legal action against Metron Aviation, Inc. and Delta Airlines. Meanwhile, an incensed Foreman is now dedicating his time and resources to solving increased safety and delay problems associated with flying by volunteering as Research Director for the Flyers' Rights Organization, the largest airline, passenger rights group in existence.
Dr. Foreman, the world's leading expert on surface delays and airspace redesign, is the owner and CEO of Mathematical Modeling Inc. (MMI), a company dedicated to providing information technology and data security. The former NASA Graduate Fellow and first African-American to be awarded a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Florida A&M University, is a distinguished scientist and engineer who has received over 23 awards, 50-plus patents for his inventions, and numerous distinctions over his 34-year career.
SOURCE FlyersRights.org
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