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Southwest Agreed to Pay FAA for Inspector’s Time

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Southwest Agreed to Pay FAA for Inspector’s Time

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Old Jan 30, 2019, 11:12 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by NoStressHere
Where did the money go?

The whole thing defies logic. Even shutting down the government defies logic. As mentioned, plenty still went to work anyways. (my tongue is now bleeding as I work hard not to get political)

Still - just trying to figure this out. Normally, the FAA inspects planes and deems them airworthy. Inspectors not available due to "shutdown". But, somehow a check makes it happen. The worker still did not get paid. Eventually the FAA gets the federal funding to be operational. Eventually they pay the worker.

Where does that check from SWest go?
The check reimburses the FAA, not the individual. How is this not clear?

The $3,150 may never come due. The invoice hasn't been sent to Dallas, according to the WSJ. It's called a "reimbursable agreement."

AA was able to add four new aircraft to its officially registered fleet during the shutdown. But never entered into a reimbursable agreement.
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Old Jan 30, 2019, 12:00 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by LegalTender
The check reimburses the FAA, not the individual. How is this not clear?....
I get that it does not go to the person who did it without pay. How did they come with an amount? Does the FAA have a price sheet for "inspections"? Pretty sure they do not as this is normally a government service that the airline would not pay for. Does the FAA have a bank account where they can deposit money (vs one normally used to spend money)

And, if people can pay for a government service while the government is shut down - why not let citizens pay to visit the Smithsonian? (just one random example)
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Old Jan 30, 2019, 12:03 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by synergistic
Calling it a paid vacation is pretty dickish, you know. A lot of employees worked the whole time, plus had to work harder to cover things furloughed employees would have done. Both essential and furloughed employees went a month without paychecks. Many have a lot of extra work to do playing catchup now that things are back in business, and all are worried about facing another round of this crap in a couple weeks. Paid vacation implies that furloughed folks should be grateful for their time on the beach. Complain about the government spending money on nothing, sure, but don't pretend that the employees made out like bandits during the shutdown.
Not to mention, essential employees have all time off cancelled. This shutdown started right before Christmas. I hope nobody that was "essential" had any plans to go anywhere for the holidays.
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Old Jan 30, 2019, 12:17 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by NoStressHere
Does the FAA have a bank account where they can deposit money (vs one normally used to spend money)
Call (202) 224-4944 and ask for Anna Newton. If she's out, try David Cleary.

Originally Posted by NoStressHere
And, if people can pay for a government service while the government is shut down - why not let citizens pay to visit the Smithsonian? (just one random example)
People did. Utah paid $66,000 to keep national park services running during the 35-day shutdown (just one random example). Part of that came from private donations.

Most of these answers can be found via Google.
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Old Jan 30, 2019, 4:21 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by beachmouse
And apparently Delta offered to cut a check to the FAA to keep them working on the approval of the Airbus 220 to enter service to meet the original certification timeline, but the FAA declined that payment because it was a more complex certification situation than what Southwest had.
Delta should have offer to construct 10 miles of "the wall" and those Airbies would be in the air by now :-)
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Old Jan 31, 2019, 12:01 pm
  #21  
 
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Reimbursable Agreements are quite common in the industry. There are a great deal of them between FAA and airports, a quick google will pop up a bunch. One common RA occurs when an airport is doing construction work that might affect a FAA NAVAID facility (ILS LOC or GS). The airport will pay FAA to support, inspect, maintain, protect etc. the work in those affected areas.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 3:17 am
  #22  
 
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It would seem obvious, but apparently it's worth noting that there's is a difference between a state or a municipal facility such as an airport negotiating an agreement with the federal government and a private company doing so.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 6:57 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by ursine1
It would seem obvious, but apparently it's worth noting that there's is a difference between a state or a municipal facility such as an airport negotiating an agreement with the federal government and a private company doing so.
Done during a government shutdown, sure. But a contractor is a contractor. Agreements cover "services and material provided by the FAA." Administrative overhead, in this instance.

FAA Reimbursable Agreements
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