Applying Commercial Style Acquisition Practices to the Procurement ofCommercially Available Aircraft

摘要

This study was performed to recommend which commercial acquisition practicesshould be adopted in government acquisitions of commercially available aircraft. Previous studies, dating to 1972, illustrate the value of adopting commercial style acquisition practices in government acquisitions. Using commercial style acquisition practices can provide the government with lower costs and faster delivery with no sacrifice of quality. As a customer of the aircraft manufacturing community, the government must adapt to global market changes. Procedure reviews and changes must occur on an ongoing basis to take advantage of standard industry practices. Telephone interviews of nineteen top level personnel representing twelve domestic aircraft manufacturers revealed difficulties encountered in selling to the government: oversight and bureaucracy; payment practices; contract complexity; clause application; and MILSPECs which go beyond FAA certification requirements. A qualitative analysis methodology was selected and recommendations for commercially available aircraft acquisitions include the following points: creating a separate regulation to govern use of commercial practices; using commercial payment practices; requiring cost benefit analysis for MILSPECs and MILSTDs which exceed FAA certifications; removing CAS requirements; establishing a commercial advocate similar to the position of competition advocate; relying on commercial marker forces to ensure the manufacturers produce at a low cost and sell at a fair price; and empowering program managers and contracting officers to keep decisions at the lowest possible level to streamline the decision making process.