Waste of the Day: Aviation Officials Threw Expensive Party

Topline: Plane passengers are not allowed to serve themselves alcohol, but all restraint apparently goes out the window once the festivities move to the ground.

A very expensive Christmas party for the Federal Aviation Administration

In 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration spent $5 million on revelry at a supposed conference in Atlanta that was “little more than an excuse to throw a three-week-long Christmas party.”

That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.

Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname “Dr. No” by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn’t stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.

Coburn’s Wastebook 2010 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth more than $11.5 billion, including the money for the FAA’s party — which would be worth $7.3 million today.

Key facts: The conference was supposed to train officials about a new air traffic control contract that had already gone into effect two years earlier.

Instead, an ABC News investigation revealed that federal employees spent much of the trip bar-hopping around Atlanta.

One official was caught on video talking about how he and his colleagues were going to get drunk and “dance on tables” once meetings concluded for the day. He bragged that he was “almost arrested” for doing the same thing at a St. Louis conference in 2006.

Another government employee asked an undercover ABC reporter if she was a “hooker” because he was “ready to reach for my wallet.”

None of it was necessary

A whistleblower told ABC News that “a PowerPoint or even a videoconference would suffice.” He said managers at the conference only got to 12 of more than 100 agenda items about the air traffic control contract.

The costs included a buffet cocktail party at the Omni Hotel. Chief Operating Officer Frank Krakowski stayed in the hotel’s elegant Governor’s Suite, though he said he was charged the standard $140 per night.

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.

Supporting quote: The FAA tried to justify the expenses in a written statement.

Given the complexity of the contract and the need for managers to fully understand it, the training had to be done face-to-face, not through a memo or webcast. The FAA is engaged in a process of significant cultural change, the need for which is widely acknowledged.

Summary: Air travel is rarely easy with constant delays and cancellations, but at least the officials in charge have been enjoying themselves.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.