Here's the thing, the FAA is no longer a new prestigious institution that is growing. All the ingredients for smart and talented people to succeed and rise to the top. The FAA was founded in 1958. It's now an ossified institution with middle managers, bean counters, process and a litany of other bullshit that talented people shouldn't tolerate and that mediocre people can hide behind.

Process is all about risk mitigation. You add process to mitigate the damage that can be done by a single individual. Sadly though when you can't have process that only neuters the liabilities. Processes also neuter your assets.

The only attractive thing about government jobs these days is the guaranteed pension. The guaranteed pension is also the exact kind of thing that causes many people to be overly zealous about not rocking the boat. It becomes all about staying in your job at all costs until you've put in your time and can retire worry free.

>I assumed people just preferred getting paid more and possible working at interesting companies.

There's that too, but at least in my circles there's very much the attitude of "oh you're in the public sector because you couldn't hack in in the private sector where you have to perform".

Whether that's a merited attitude to hold is a separate conversation, but the sentiment definitely exists.