Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Navy's aviation component repair program, focusing on: (1) whether repair prices were well-supported and reasonable; (2) Navy efforts to improve efficiency and contain costs; and (3) internal program management controls.
GAO found that naval aviation depots: (1) during fiscal year (FY) 1988, overhauled almost 200,000 components, with revenues of about $601 million; (2) based their repair charges on standards reflecting the estimated number of labor hours that the repair required; (3) lacked or had inaccurate documentation to support 68 percent of 75 component repair charges GAO reviewed; (4) were not required to and did not analyze price variances, resulting in continuing overcharges or undercharges for some component repairs; (5) frequently charged for more labor hours than they actually used for component repair; and (6) did not comply with requirements to establish and track performance goals. GAO also found that the Naval Air Systems Command: (1) had inadequate controls to ensure that depots complied with instructions requiring accurate, current, and auditable work-load standards; (2) has not identified or corrected the causes of the depots' 13-percent decline in component repair efficiency between FY 1985 and 1988; and (3) has several major initiatives underway to improve the depots' efficiency and contain costs, but some are limited by design problems.
