Document
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ORDER
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
1360.16A i
NATIONAL POLICY • .••• i Effective Date: January 19, 2006 SUBJ: Correspondence Policy 1. Purpose of This Order. This order establishes the guidelines for all correspondence generated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Correspondence includes letters, internal memorandums, as well as official e-mails. The FAA's Executive Secretariat (AOA-3) is responsible for establishing and enforcing the guidelines and processes.
2. Who This Order Affects. This order affects anyone who produces any form of correspondence.
3. Goals of FAA's Correspondence.
a. Correspondence must be: • Complete: provide all information the reader needs or asks for; • Concise: don't insert irrelevant or unimportant information; • Correct: check your facts, your grammar, and your punctuation; • Courteous: use the right tone; and • On time: meet or beat all deadlines for responses.
b. FAA offices must give a high priority to congressional inquiries and requests.
4. Responsibilities of AOA-3. AOA-3 has the primary responsibility for FAA correspondence.
AOA-3: a. Establishes guidelines for FAA correspondence, including setting standards for content and format, timeliness, and processing controlled items; b. Assists offices that produce correspondence; c. Provides training on FAA guidelines, as needed, for staff responsible for preparing and processing correspondence; d. Administers the Correspondence Control Management System or any successor system; e. Helps the FAA Web Manager maintain the FAA employee Web site pages on correspondence and writing; and f. Prepares reports for the Administrator on the FAA's correspondence, including timeliness of correspondence.
Distribution: A-WXYZ- Electronically .
Initiated By: AOA-3 01/19/06 1360.16A 5. Responsibilities of the Lines of Business, Staff Offices, and Other FAA Organizations.
All offices that prepare correspondence, whether internal or external, must follow the guidelines established by AOA-3.
6. Correspondence Guidelines. AOA-3 issues guidelines that address correspondence elements including: a. Writing clarity and quality; b. Format; c. Paper and envelope requirements; d. Using the Correspondence Control Management System or any successor system; and e. Timeliness.
7. Publishing Correspondence Guidelines. AOA-3 publishes the FAA's correspondence guidelines on the employee Web site, http://employees,faa.gov. AOA-3 may make routine changes to these guidelines and will inform the lines of businesses and staff of any changes.
Routine changes may include changing the guidelines to: a. Keep them up-to-date with technology or with common practices in the business world; b. Accommodate preferences of the current Administrator or Secretary; and c. Accommodate changes in systems such as the FAA template system (FAA Correspondence and Writing Tools) and any FAA correspondence tracking systems.
8. This order cancels Order 1360.16, FAA Correspondence Manual, of July 12, 1985.
9. For more information about this order or about correspondence, contact AOA-3.
Marion C. Blakey Administrator .
Federal Aviation Administration •