By memorandum dated March 27, 2000, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") has delegated to the Director of the FAA Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition ("ODRA") final decision authority for the agency with respect to bid protests relating to procurements having a value or potential value of not more than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) and contract disputes involving a total amount in dispute, exclusive of interest, legal fees or costs, of not more than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00). The new delegation, which was published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2000, supplements prior delegations to the ODRA as set forth both in the FAA’s Acquisition Management System ("AMS") and in the ODRA's final procedural rule as published in the Federal Register on June 18, 1999 (64 FR 34926), as well as in a separate delegation memorandum from the Administrator dated July 29, 1998.

In 1996, as part of its new acquisition system, the FAA established the ODRA as an independent forum for the resolution of bid protests and contract disputes for procurements or contracts entered into under the AMS. Since 1996, the ODRA has resolved a total of 157 matters, including 113 bid protests, 37 contract disputes and 7 applications for attorneys’ fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"). The majority of all these matters (55% of bid protests and 86% of contract disputes) have been resolved through the ODRA’s alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") process. As of March 1, 2000, under its "default adjudicative process" (which is used only when the parties decline to use ADR or are unsuccessful in achieving a complete settlement through ADR), a total of 61 ODRA cases had been adjudicated to completion: 51 bid protests, 5 contract disputes, and 5 EAJA applications. In those cases, the ODRA Dispute Resolution Officer ("DRO") or Special Master who conducted the adjudication proceedings prepared findings and recommendations for the FAA Administrator. In every such case, the Administrator adopted the ODRA’s recommendations and issued a final decision for the agency in the form of an FAA Order. It is expected that the newly delegated authority will be applicable to more than half of the matters brought before the ODRA.