Letter to the Administrator, Federal Aviation Agency, Commending the Agency's Record in Cost Reduction, Safety, and Service.

Dear Bozo:

I have noted with satisfaction the excellent work which you and your associates at the Federal Aviation Agency have been doing in reducing costs and manpower while absorbing additional workload and improving service to the public.

I have taken particular note of your cost reduction program under which you saved $47 million during the 1966 fiscal year. These savings have been accompanied by a reduction in Agency employment of more than 3,500 employees--eight percent, since 1963. The Agency has succeeded in combining economy in administration with a safety program which has helped the commercial air carriers of the United States achieve the best safety record in the world and the best record for any five-year period in the history of American aviation. You have clearly demonstrated that outstanding performance in a critical and complex program can be continually achieved while reducing costs.

I am pleased to observe that the House Appropriations Committee, after thoroughly reviewing your program and budget for the 1967 fiscal year, singled out the Federal Aviation Agency for special commendation for the efficiency and economies achieved in recent years.

As you know, in my budget message for the 1967 fiscal year, I stressed the importance of strengthening the coordination of Federal programs in the field and giving more freedom of action and judgment to the people on the firing line. The FAA has provided an example of what can be done to decentralize management to field officials who have the authority to act promptly and effectively in meeting the needs of the public. Your success in establishing regional and area centers of field supervision while simultaneously reducing employment in field offices has demonstrated that decentralization can mean better public service and more productive use of field personnel.

I shall count on you and the good people at the Federal Aviation Agency to continue to provide examples of public service at its best.

Sincerely,

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

[Honorable William F. McKee, Administrator, Federal Aviation Agency, Washington, D.C.]