MWAA Executives Ordered to Slow Down Spending

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority executives must reel in the lavish dinners and trips, after excessive spending and shaky expenditure logs have brought on a revision of the rules.

According to a recent Washington Post article, the Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood applauded the MWAA for making changes to policies regarding travel after they found other board members were spending tens of thousands of dollars on food and plane tickets.

But before the MWAA can pat themselves on the back too hard, new documents have surfaced detailing a 15-month period where top executives still employed by the MWAA are spending just as much as their predecessors.

The vice presidents for air-service development, finance and business administration and the now-former vice president for information and telecommunication services each filed more than $10,000 in expenses. One MWAA vice president also bought a ticket for a flight that sent him over a whopping $12,000.

The Washington Post also reports that MWAA's CEO John E. Potter spent under $3,500 during the period the documents cover.

These expenditures did not break any rules at the time, but they did cause grumbles amongst the company, after then-board member Dennis Martire was criticized by federal investigators for spending money on international flights, including a ticket that cost over $9,000.

The MWAA former vice president George Ellis cashed out at $10,000 dollars during a six-day stay in London, where he spoke at a conference. In the file for authorization he logged before the trip, he estimated he'd spend less than half of that.

Vice President for air-service development Mark Treadaway spent more than $98,000, according to the report. He spent the most of all, by far.

"It's my job," he said to the Washington Post. "My job is to travel the world and bring in airlines. It's kind of hard to do that sitting at your desk in Washington."

The new guidelines put holds on first-class travel and the cash MWAA employees can put down for meals. Past policies have been lax, and the revised rules are tighter: staff are given a $71-a-day meal allotment, and cannot always opt for a first-class seat.