Pay System Causing Turbulence at the FAA

The FAA also participates in and buys compensation surveys, which are usually subject to confidentiality requirements, he said.

Because of the class-action suit, the FAA will not comment on O'Hara's contention that lump-sum payments and bonuses effectively reduces pensions, Price said.

The debate over the core system is not the only dispute over pay at the FAA. The National Air Traffic Controllers Union objects to an agency decision last year to impose a contract that has slowed the rate of pay increases for current controllers and cut starting salaries for new hires by 30 percent.

Patrick Forrey, the union president, contends that pay and other changes in workplace rules have prompted 856 experienced controllers to retire in fiscal 2007 rather than stay in airport towers. "If you thought 2007 was bad for [flight] delays, just wait until 1,500 more veteran controllers retire between now and the end of the 2008 summer travel season. It will be worse," Forrey recently said.

FAA officials discount Forrey's remarks, saying that the agency will be able to hire replacements for retiring controllers and keep the skies safe for travelers. Officials also said that the contract will save the agency almost $2 billion over five years and will permit salaries and other benefits for controllers to keep growing.

Still, the feuding over pay and other workplace issues has taken a toll on the agency, at least as measured in surveys. The FAA ranked 204th out of 222 agencies in a "best places to work" index compiled this year by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for Public Policy Implementation.

O'Hara said the FAA brought in an independent team to evaluate the Core Compensation System but has refused to release the results of a draft report received a year ago.

"I believe there exists fundamental flaws in the process," he said. "If they want to have some integrity with the workforce, then weaknesses have to be identified, corrections have to be made. And this needs to be done."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.