Many of
you will know that the FAA Reauthorization Act 2024 was passed by Congress and
signed by President Biden in May of this year. According to the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: “The bipartisan and
bicameral Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of
2024 will reauthorize the FAA for five years while creating a safer,
cleaner, greener, and more accessible U.S. aviation system”.
Further,
from The White House: “On Thursday, May 16th,
2024, the President signed into law H.R. 3935, the ‘FAA Reauthorization Act of
2024,’ which reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration and related
revenue authorities through September 30, 2028; and reauthorizes the National
Transportation Safety Board through September 30, 2028. Thank you,
Representatives Graves and Larsen, Senators Cantwell and Cruz, and many others
for their leadership”.
To start
with, I echo the last sentence—the act is not only spectacular in its breadth
and depth but also that was achieved at all in these strange days of the 118th
United States Congress. A job well done by all. By the way,
remember the date of signing, May 16th 2024, as many of the act’s
deliverables are keyed off that date.
Now, even
though you have heard of its passing into law and that is contains some meaty
material, you’ll be forgiven for not reading the text of the whole Act as it
stretches to some 1068 pages. Luckily, some smart people at AOPA, EAA and
other aviation groups have buried their noses into the great tome and have
produced useful summaries of the act. Nevertheless, as the Act pertains
to the government authority that governs what we do and how we do it, I would
urge all aviators to at least “flip-through” these summaries and then dive
deeper into specific areas of interest.
Unfortunately
for us there is not a section in the Act called “Flying Clubs” that contains
all that we clubbers need to know. There is, however a “Title” in the Act
that focuses on General Aviation (GA), and we have to thank pilot
Representative Sam Graves for the fact that this title exists, as well as its
insightful content and wisdom. Just a quick digression – I first met Sam
Graves in 2015 when I helped organize and run the Nebraska State Fly-In and
Airshow, held at Hebron Municipal Airport (KHJH), Nebraska. The air show
was a really big deal for our town of 1,500 people and for the future of the
airport. Many local aviators rallied around to make the event a
resounding success, and amongst them was Representative Sam Graves, who flew a
P40 to the event and was a major part of the warbird flying
display. Sam was amazingly gracious with his support of a small,
rural aviation event—an event that made the day for around 4,000 people.
You don’t forget things like that…and I haven’t. If you read Club Connector
Sam, thank you again for not only doing what you do, but for the way that you
do it.
I’m now
getting closer to decoding the Act in terms of benefits to flying clubs, but
let me first provide some background references:
The text of the Act itself can
be found here and here. The General Aviation Title (Title VIII) includes
Sections 801-834, starting on page 771.
A Section-by-Section summary
is found here. The GA Title starts on page 55 and goes to page
58.
AOPA articles and videos on
the Act’s impact on GA are here:
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/may/15/congress-passes-faa-reauthorization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l3dx6BAzyU
An EAA news article is here:https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-publications/eaa-news-and-aviation-news/news/faa-reauthorization-2024-hr3935
Probably
the best way to understand the impact of the Act on flying clubs is to
piggyback on an excellent summary produced by AOPA about the impact on GA as a
whole—and flying clubs are most definitely part of GA. I’ll also
gratefully and unashamedly steal from the Section-by-Section summary, but I’ll add a flying clubs
interpretation on each of the topics. Just to be clear, not all of the
topics impacting GA are contained in the GA Title VIII, and not all topics in
Title VIII are particularly interesting to flying clubs. If you wish to
dig deeper, I suggest you search the full text of the Act using the
“Sec.” number…for example, Sec. 828 (to do with the expansion of
BasicMed).
Relevant
Titles and Sections in the Act:
Here I’ll
list the titles and sections that have real meaning and application for General
Aviation (and hence flying clubs and their members) even though they are
outside of Title V111: General Aviation.
I hope
you’ll follow along as I give some GA flavor to this Act and that you will, by
the end of this article, agree that we seem to be heading back to an aviation
system based on safety and common-sense, rather than unaccountable
bureaucracy. This is a truly magnificent bill!
Title I
– Authorizations:
- Sec. 101. Airport Planning and
Development and Noise Compatibility Planning and Programs. This section
authorizes $4 billion from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for
the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Airport Improvement Program
(AIP) account for each of fiscal years (FYs) 2025 through 2028.
- Allegedly GA airport will
receive the large share of this increase – some $1B.
Title
II – FAA Oversight and Organizational Reform: Getting stuff done in a timely matter,
including completing NextGen by end of 2025. Basically, get on with it.
Title
III – Aviation Safety Improvements: Specifically…
- Sec. 308. Scalability of
safety management systems. This section directs the FAA, in conducting a
rulemaking to require, or implementing a regulation requiring, a safety
management system, to consider the scalability of such safety management
system requirements to the full range of entities in terms of size or
complexity.
- My sincere hope is that this
helps GA operators, including flying clubs, understand the value and
importance of safety management systems (SMS) and that they are
applicable to the whole gamut of aviation activities and operations. I
would personally love to see more money assigned to the National FAASTeam,
in order to develop and integrate the WINGS program into a
scalable SMS across many levels.
- Sec. 315. Review of FAA use of
aviation safety data. This section requires that the FAA enter into an
agreement with a qualified third-party organization or consortium to
review aviation safety data the FAA has, how the data is stored and used,
and whether the data is complete and useful for the purposes of
identifying safety trends and addressing identified risks. This section
requires the FAA to develop an implementation plan within 6 months of
receiving the report and findings from the qualified third-party
organization and begin implementing recommendations, if appropriate.
- Again, this gets to the nub
of the FAASTeam program—producing content to tackle the causal factors of
general aviation “accidents”. The sad thing is that those factors have
been the same for decades. We must use modern techniques to intelligently
mine data to highlight certification and training inadequacies in type
and extent. I hope this will lead to closer data sharing and
collaboration with bodies such as AOPA’s Air Safety Institute.
- Sec. 316. Weather reporting
systems study. This section requires the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) to examine how to improve the procurement, functionality, and
sustainability of weather reporting systems to improve the resiliency of
weather reporting systems.
- Speaks for itself, and good
stuff.
- Sec. 317. GAO study on
expansion of the FAA weather camera program. This section directs GAO to
conduct a study on the feasibility and potential safety benefits of
expanding the Weather Camera Program of the FAA to locations in the United
States that lack weather camera services.
- For members of clubs in
mountainous areas or those of us who fly across mountains, the weather
camera program and related remote weather stations are absolutely
priceless. If you have not discovered them yet, spend some time here:https://weathercams.faa.gov/map.Hurrah
for expanding the program!
- Sec. 318. Audit on aviation
safety in era of wireless connectivity. This section requires the FAA to
enter into an agreement with the National Academies to study potential
conflicts between uses of radio spectrum by aviators and wireless
telecommunications network.
- In a nutshell, protect
aviation radio signals (including the GNSS spectrum) from encroachment
and interference from cellular and other providers who rank profit over
safety. This has been going on for years and costs millions of dollars in
legal battles. To be blunt, the FCC should be doing this.
- Sec. 330. Task Force on Human
Factors in Aviation Safety. This section directs the FAA to convene a task
force on human factors in aviation safety. The task force is expected to
produce a written report identifying the most significant human factors
and the relative contribution of such factors to aviation safety risk,
providing recommendations on potential revisions to aviation regulations,
and reviewing pilot training requirements to ensure adequate understanding
of automated systems, among other things.
- If you’ve been following the
FAA’s recent campaign on Human Factors education and my seminars/webinars
on “Accidents are Not Accidental At All”, Why Good Pilots Make Bad
Decisions”, “Expand Your Human Horizons”, and “Human Factors, The Final
Frontier”, etc., you’ll be pleased to see this mandate. We, the humans in
human factors (pilots, controllers, mechanics…) still account for some
80% of all GA accidents. Contact me
if you would like to know more about this.
- Sec. 337. Flight service
stations. This section repeals a provision of law no longer utilized (49
U.S.C. §44514) relating to flight service stations.
- This looked interesting and
relevant, so I search for 49 U.S.C. §44514, and indeed it shows up as
having been repealed on May 16th 2024.What needed repealing,
you might ask?
- After a bit of a search, I
found “a) HOURS OF OPERATION— (1) The Secretary of Transportation may
close, or reduce the hours of operation of, a flight service station in
an area only if the service provided in the area after the closing or
during the hours the station is not in operation is provided by an
automated flight service station with at least model 1 equipment”.
- So, presumably as much of the
country is already covered by the Leidos automated flight service
station, then this law is no longer needed. Further, I think this is good
news for pilots in Alaska, where there are manual FSS, so this change
prevents them from being closed, unless an automated system also covers
that particular service area.
- Sec. 342. Don Young Alaska
Aviation Safety Initiative. This section…sets forth objectives for FAA to
work cooperatively with aviation stakeholders towards the goal of reducing
the rate of fatal aircraft accidents by 90 percent from 2019-2033 and
eliminating fatal accidents of commercial aircraft by 2033 in Alaska,
Hawaii, and the territories of the United States.
- Gosh…reduce by 90%.This
should result in some serious innovation and system improvements from
which we all should benefit.
- There is a lot more to this
section about weather reporting and other initiatives, so I suggest you
study it if you live or travel to one of these areas mentioned. More on
page 12 of Section-by-Section and page 176 of the Full Act.
- Sec. 357. Educational and
professional development. This section builds on requirements that the FAA
exercise global leadership in promoting civil aeronautics and aviation
safety set forth in section 40104 of title 49, U.S.C., by requiring the
FAA to promote and support the education and professional development of
persons in the aviation sector, schools, or other organizations.
- Due to my background
(engineering systems, academia and flight instruction) I’m a firm
believer in professional development (code for keeping up with the
times).
- I’ll probably receive some
emails about this statement, but I firmly believe that we can make big
improvements to GA safety by treating the flight review as professional
development, rather than a chore .As I repeatedly chant, “Gift #1 from
the FAA is the Flight Review, Gift #2 is the WINGS program to
comply with Gift #1”.
Title
IV – Aerospace Workforce:
Specifically…
- In general, the FAA and DOT
have been told to put plans in place to ensure a healthy and vibrant
aviation industry in the future, without being held hostage due to the
lack of a skilled workers.
- Sec. 406. Airman Certification
Standards. This section requires the FAA to utilize the Airman
Certification System Working Group established under the Aviation
Rulemaking Advisory Committee and obtain industry feedback in reviewing
Airman Certification Standards to ensure that airman proficiency and
knowledge correlates and corresponds to regulations, procedures,
equipment, aviation infrastructure, and safety trends.
- Good. Perhaps future airman
will actually have to understand the aerodynamics of stall and spin
recovery beyond pressing a blue button.
- Sec. 407. Airman’s medical
bill of rights. This section directs the FAA to develop an “Airman’s
Medical Bill of Rights” that details the rights of an individual before,
during, and after a medical examination conducted by an Aviation Medical
Examiner (AME). This section directs the FAA to develop a second document
to explain the standard procedures performed during a medical examination
conducted by an AME and to make these documents readily available.
- Good stuff, as transparency
usually is.
- Let’s hope that this also
addresses the number and availability of AMEs, nationwide.
- Sec. 411. Aeromedical
innovation and modernization working group. This section establishes a
working group to review the FAA’s medical processes, policies, and
procedures and to make recommendations to the Administrator to ensure the
timely and efficient certification of airmen.
- Anything to do with medical
certification is important to pilots, especially older pilots.
- This also includes accessing
special issuance, medical conditions under which an AME may issues a
medical certificate, mental health…and more.
- Sec. 413. Medical portal
modernization task group. This section requires the Aeromedical Innovation
and Modernization Working Group in section 411 to establish a medical
portal modernization task group to evaluate the user interface and
information sharing capabilities of an online medical portal administered
by the FAA.
- Another “about time”
improvement.
- Lots of sections around ATC
staff recruitment, retention, training, along with many other common-sense
mandates, such as…
- Sec. 441. National Strategic
Plan for Aviation Workforce Development. This section requires the
Secretary to establish a national strategic plan to improve the
recruitment, hiring, and retention of the civil aviation workforce.
- What else can be said
but…Duh.
Title
VI – Modernizing the National Airspace System:
There is
so much of relevance in this section that it really does warrant a full
read. See the Full Act, starting at page 511. Here are personal
favorites:
- Sec. 604. Airspace access.
This section directs the FAA, in coordination with the DOD, to conduct a
comprehensive review of the national airspace system, including special
use airspace, within three years of the bill’s enactment. The review must
also identify methods to streamline and expedite access to certain 38
categories of airspace for users who may not regularly have such access.
In addition, the FAA must brief Congress on the findings of the review and
a proposed action plan to improve airspace access. Furthermore, the FAA
must coordinate with the DOD to implement this plan and provide periodic
updates to Congress.
- Essentially…does there need
to be so much special use airspace that is not easily and simply
accessible to qualified users? This could have a huge impact in areas of
the country covered with MOAs, MTRs, Restricted Areas, and on.
- Sec. 605. FAA contract tower
workforce audit. This section directs the DOT Inspector General to conduct
an audit of the workforce needs for the FAA Contract Tower Program. The
audit will review contract tower staffing levels and examine efforts to
establish an air traffic controller training program or curriculum for
initial technical and on-the-job training for these controllers, among
other considerations.
- I include this one for safety
and selfish reasons. I live and fly close to Redmond Airport (KRDM),
which is an extremely busy Class-D airport. Five large national carriers
operate B737s and A320s out of the field with around 30 flights per day,
in addition to GA use and very busy flight schools. Okay – great—this
shows the utility and economic benefit of such airports BUT the tower
(contract tower) is so short staffed that it is operating on restricted
opening times, with some all day (yes…ALL DAY) closures on certain
weekend days. Oh…and the tower doesn’t have a radar feed. If there is an
airport that is in desperate need for airspace and workforce
modernization it is Redmond, OR. The sad thing is that this situation
exists due to lack of prior airspace planning (that’s why it needs to be
“modernized”) and budget shortfalls. I hate to say this, but we are
probably just one tragic midair collision away from a national outcry and
an immediate solution, regardless of budget. In the meantime, for
goodness’ sake, allow the tower staff to use ADS-B IN and iPads so that
they can at least see what we see in the cockpit. Those of us in the area
will gladly pony up funds to make this happen, but “red tape” is in the
way. While people are arguing about whether such a solution is “approved”
the likelihood of disaster keeps growing. Good grief…but see Sec. 620
below…
- Sec. 611. Federal contract
tower wage determinations and positions.
- This will help – actually pay
skilled professionals on par with other skilled professionals.
- Sec. 619. NextGen programs.
This section requires the FAA to expedite the implementation of NextGen
programs and capabilities.
- In other words, get on with
it!
- Sec. 620. Contract tower
program…In addition, the FAA must allow air traffic controllers at
contract towers to procure, install and use approved advanced equipment
and technologies, standard terminal automation replacement system (STARS),
or any equivalent system, to improve situational awareness (my
highlights).
- Thank you, the framers of
this Act.
Title
VII – Modernizing Airport Infrastructure:
- Sec. 708. Updating United
States Government's share of project costs. This section temporarily
increases the Federal share to 95% of allowable project costs for a grant
made to a non-hub or nonprimary airport in FY25 and FY26.
- Excellent. This increases
federal funding to 95% (from 90%) for approved projects so making it
easier for states and local authorities to move forward with needed
improvements.
- On my lists of projects: More
(affordable) hangars, fuel infrastructure to kickstart adoption of
unleaded fuel, standardization and installation of charging
infrastructure for electrical aircraft…and so much more!
- Sec. 716. Small airport fund.
This section simplifies the distribution formula for the small airport
fund. Additionally, this section creates a five percent set-aside ($34M)
for aprons intended to be used for itinerant general aviation parking.
- Good. Even though “fair and
reasonable” FBO fees never made it into the final Act due to lobbying
pressures, at least now airports should be able to construct “itinerant”
(transient?) parking areas. Let’s see how the big FBOs manage to bully
their way around this one!
- Sec. 719. Protecting general
aviation airports from closure. This section ensures the FAA will only
permit grant obligated airports to close if the closure: will not
significantly impair the aeronautical purpose of an airport; will not
result in the permanent closure of an airport (unless the Secretary
determines that the waiver will directly facilitate the construction of a
replacement airport); or is necessary to protect or advance the civil
aviation interests of the United States.
- Excellent. This puts the
aviation interest of the USA ahead of money grabbing municipalities and
developers, and for us, means we can plan on enjoying our airports for
years to come.
- Sec. 726. General aviation
airport runway extension pilot program. This section directs the FAA to
establish an AIP pilot program that would allow a general aviation airport
to use the Small Airport Fund for certain runway extension projects that
would otherwise be ineligible under AIP.
- Nice—making it legal and
easier to do the right thing.
- Sec. 732. Populous counties
without airports. This section requires the FAA to include a new airport
in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems if the airport is
located in the most populous county of a State that does not have a listed
airport if it meets certain criteria.
- This Act is truly wonderful!
- Sec. 737. Coastal airports
assessment. This section requires the FAA to coordinate with the Army
Corps of Engineers and NOAA to assess the resiliency of coastal or
flood-prone areas and submit a report to Congress on the findings and
related recommendations.
- This is probably timey, given
rising sea levels and is highly topical in Oregon, where the Cascadia
Subduction Zone has the potential to induce earthquakes
of magnitude 8 or 9.
- Actually, in that case,
resiliency of coastal airports will be a moot point, and we should be
looking inland…East of the Cascades. Oh…Redmond, Bend and Prineville!
- Sec. 745. Electric aircraft
infrastructure pilot program. This section establishes a five-year pilot
program allowing up to 10 eligible airports to acquire, install, and
operate charging equipment for electric aircraft and to construct or
modify related infrastructure to support such equipment.
- Important and timely to grow
electrically-propelled aviation. Build it and they will come.
- Sec. 749. Airport diagram
terminology. This section requires the FAA to update certain policy and
guidance to ensure the clear and consistent use of terms to delineate the
types of parking available to general aviation pilots.
- This will help us avoid $100
parking spots (plus “administration fees”).
- Sec. 750. GAO study on fee
transparency by fixed based operators. This section directs a GAO study on
the efforts of fixed base operators (FBOs) to meet their commitments to
improve the online transparency of prices and fees for all aircraft and
enhancing the customer experience for general and business aviation users.
- Know before you go.
- I sense much more lobbying in
our future.
- Note :A proposal by AOPA to
limit FBO fees to “fair and reasonable” did not make it into the Act, due
to misinformation proliferated by those who make money from being unfair
and unreasonable.
- Sec. 760. Washington D.C.
metropolitan area special flight rules area. This section requires the
FAA, in consultation with the Departments of Homeland Security and
Defense, to conduct a study on the Washington D.C., Special Flight Rules
Area and Flight Restricted Zone to assess possible changes that decrease
operational impacts and improve general aviation access to airports in the
National Capital Region
- This is important to my AOPA
friends and others who fly in and around the DC-SFRA. Time to consider a
change using modern technology.
- Sec. 770. Grant assurances.
This section requires that airports that offered 100-octane low lead
aviation gasoline for sale in 2022 to continue offering such gasoline for
sale until the earlier of 2030 or the date on which a FAA-certified
unleaded aviation gasoline alternative can be made available for purchase
or use by general aviation aircraft operators at airports subject to
certain conditions. Any airport violating this grant assurances will be
assessed a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 per day the airport fails
to comply with the grant assurance.
- This is very important for
flying clubs (and all others, really) that fly from federally obligated
airports…that is, airports that have taken federal funds for
improvements.
- Yes, it is important to work
as quickly as possible to get the lead out of aviation fuel, but this
section makes it very clear that airports cannot, willy-nilly, decide the
short-term fate of the piston GA fleet.
Another
title I enjoyed reading is Title X – Research and Development.
There are two subparts to this, namely, Subtitle A — General Provisions, and
Subtitle B —Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Advanced Air Mobility, both of which
contain some positive steps, like integration of UAS, infrastructure for
“electric” aircraft, presumably meaning electrically propelled aircraft, and
more. I’ll leave it to you to dig as much as you desire!
Title
VIII: General Aviation
This is
the first ever FAA Reauthorization Act with a Title explicitly for General
Aviation, and the precedent that it sets for future Acts is impressive indeed,
but before we travel much further down this rabbit hole, let’s remind ourselves
of the actual meaning of “General Aviation” in order to fully understand the
scope and opportunity of this and future Acts.
See the
AOPA booklet: “GENERAL AVIATION EXPLAINED The Backbone of America’s Aviation
System” for more information, but in a nutshell:
“General
aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization as
“all civil aviation operations other than scheduled air services and
nonscheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire. This means that
while military and airline operations do not fall under the umbrella of GA, a
wide variety of other types of aerial work—such as aerial flight training,
firefighting, banner towing, pipeline patrols, and medevac operations—do fall
under this heading. Also, all recreational flying is considered GA.
General aviation includes commercial, non-commercial and recreation aviation
activities”.
More
succinctly, “General Aviation [GA] is all civilian flying except scheduled
passenger airline service”, and that, dear reader, is why having a GA Title in
the FAA Reauthorization Act is so important, and such a victory.
For the
overall flavor of Title VIII, ponder its table of contents. I’ve
italicized those sections that I think are of most interest to flying clubs (or
any owner-pilot, for that matter), and we’ll look at each in more detail, next.
Sec. 801.
Reexamination of pilots or certificate holders.
Sec. 802.
GAO review of Pilot’s Bill of Rights.
Sec. 803.
Data privacy.
Sec. 804.
Accountability for aircraft registration numbers.
Sec. 805.
Timely resolution of investigations.
Sec.
806. All makes and models authorization.
Sec. 807.
Response to letter of investigation.
Sec. 808.
ADS-B out equipage study; Vehicle-to-Vehicle link program.
Sec.
809. Ensuring safe landings during off-airport operations.
Sec. 810.
Development of low-cost voluntary ADS–B.
Sec. 811.
Airshow safety team.
Sec. 812.
Aircraft registration validity during renewal.
Sec. 813.
Temporary airman certificates.
Sec.
814. Letter of deviation authority.
Sec.
815. BasicMed for examiners administering tests or proficiency checks.
Sec. 816.
Designee locator tool improvements.
Sec.
817. Deadline to eliminate aircraft registration backlog.
Sec. 818.
Part 135 air carrier certificate backlog.
Sec. 819.
Enhancing processes for authorizing aircraft for service in commuter and
on-demand operations.
Sec.
820. Flight instructor certificates.
Sec. 821.
Consistency of policy application in flight standards and aircraft
certification.
Sec. 822.
Application of policies, orders, and guidance.
Sec. 823.
Expansion of the regulatory consistency communications board.
Sec.
824. Modernization of special airworthiness certification rulemaking deadline.
Sec. 825.
Exclusion of gyroplanes from fuel system requirements.
Sec. 826.
Public aircraft flight time logging eligibility.
Sec.
827. EAGLE initiative.
Sec.
828. Expansion of BasicMed.
Sec. 829.
Prohibition on using ADS–B out data to initiate an investigation.
Sec. 830.
Charitable flight fuel reimbursement exemptions.
Sec. 831.
GAO report on charitable flights.
Sec.
832. Flight instruction or testing.
Sec. 833.
National coordination and oversight of designated pilot examiners.
Sec. 834.
Part 135 pilot supplemental oxygen requirement.
More
details:
- Sec. 806. All makes and models
authorization. This section requires the FAA to reestablish the
authorization for all types and makes of certain experimental single and
multiengine piston powered aircraft.
- Sec. 809. Ensuring safe
landings during off-airport operations. This section prohibits the FAA
from applying section 91.119 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, in
any manner that requires a pilot to continue a landing that is unsafe.
- FAR 91.119 is the Minimum
Safe Altitudes regulation
- This is the common-sense
response to the FAA’s enforcement action on Trent Palmer (see here, here and here) for doing a low-pass before landing at an
off-airport location.
- This is vitally important for
GA as it allows us to exercise safe decision making without risking our
certificates.
- Sec. 814. Letter of deviation
authority. This section excludes a flight instructor, registered owner,
lessor, or lessee of an aircraft from the requirement to obtain a letter
of deviation authority from the FAA to allow, conduct, or receive flight
training, checking, and testing in a covered aircraft if no person
advertises the aircraft or instruction as available for those activities;
the flight instructor is not providing both the training and the aircraft;
and no person receives compensation for use of the aircraft during those
activities, other than expenses owed for operating, owning, and
maintaining the aircraft.
- Sec. 815. BasicMed for
examiners administering tests or proficiency checks. This section will
allow a pilot examiner to perform authorized examiner duties under
BasicMed so long as the examiner can otherwise act as pilot-in-command
under BasicMed in the aircraft being used for the exam.
- Basically, a DPE on BasicMed
will be able to conduct check rides in applicable aircraft. Hopefully
this will help relieve the backlog of DPE availability and so perhaps
bring down the cost of check rides (ha…ha…ha…ha!)
- Sec. 820. Flight instructor
certificates. This section requires the FAA to issue a final rule for the
rulemaking activity titled “Removal of the Expiration Date on a Flight
Instructor Certificate” (RIN 2120-AL25), not later than 18 months after
the date of enactment of the Act. Such rulemaking would require the FAA to
remove the expiration date on a flight instructor certificate, among other
things.
- Applicable to all CFIs.
- The abstract of RIN 2120-AL25 is: “This action would remove the
expiration date on flight instructor certificates. In addition, it would
remove the requirement for a flight instructor to renew his or her flight
instructor certificate. Instead, the rule would call for the flight instructor
to meet and demonstrate recent experience requirements to exercise the
privileges of his or her certificate”.
- Some more words…” This [will]
function to remove the expiration date from a flight instructor
certificate, establish recent experience requirements, expand certain
certificate reinstatement options for flight instructors [and] amend
qualification requirements for flight instructors seeking to provide
training to initial flight instructor applicants.
- Be clear…this is to get away
from having to get a new physical CFI certificate every two years (waste
of time and money), but it will not change the fact that CFIs must
perform “professional development” in order to act as CFI.
- I’m looking forward to
hearing more about the options for “establishing recent experience
requirements” and sincerely hope that “they” work with groups such as
NAFI and SAFE to get better standards, training and ethics into the world
of flight instruction.
- Sec. 827. EAGLE Initiative.
This section requires the FAA to continue to partner with industry and
other Federal government stakeholders to carry out the “Eliminate Aviation
Gasoline Lead Emissions Initiative” (EAGLE Initiative) through the end of
2030. This section specifies that the FAA shall take such actions as may
be necessary to facilitate: 1) the safe elimination of the use of leaded
aviation gasoline by piston-engine aircraft by the end of 2030 without
adversely affecting the safe and efficient operation of the piston-engine
aircraft fleet; 2) the approval of the use of unleaded alternatives to
leaded aviation gasoline for use in all piston-engine aircraft types and
piston-engine types; 3) the implementation of the requirements relating to
the continued availability of aviation gasoline; 4) efforts to make
unleaded aviation gasoline widely available for purchase and use at
airports; and 5) the development of a transition plan to safely enable the
transition of the piston-engine general aviation aircraft fleet to
unleaded aviation gasoline by 2030. In developing the transition plan, the
FAA must consult aviation stakeholders and consider the following: 1)
progress of the EAGLE Initiative; 2) the evaluation and development of
airport infrastructure, including fuel storage and facilities to support
the storage and distribution of unleaded aviation gasoline; 3) best
practices for protecting against exposure to lead contamination on
airfields; 4) efforts to address supply chain issues inhibiting timely distribution
of unleaded aviation gasolines; and 5) efforts to educate pilots and
aircraft owners on how to safely transition to unleaded aviation gasoline.
- Here we go again (still).
- Summary. Get it done.
- Sec. 828. Expansion of
BasicMed. This section amends Section 2307 of the FAA Extension, Safety,
and Security Act of 2016 by: increasing the number of allowable passengers
in a covered aircraft to six (up from five); increasing the allowable
number of seats in a covered aircraft to seven (up from six); and
increasing the maximum certificated takeoff weight of a covered aircraft
to 12,500 pounds (up from 6,000 pounds). This section includes language to
clarify that the expansion of BasicMed does not apply to transport
category rotorcraft. This section also updates to current standards the
medical form a state-licensed physician uses in completing a comprehensive
medical examination. The amendments made by this section are applicable
beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the
bill.
- This is important so I
suggest reading it again!
- This has direct importance to
flying clubs with members operating under BasicMed and perhaps have
larger aircraft that have previously been unavailable to those members.
This may also change the decision-making process that a club undergoes
when considering upgrading or adding larger aircraft the fleet.
- The FAA has 180 days from May
16th 2024 to get this done (that is, by November 12th
2024).
- I’m a bit unsure about the
wording “This section also updates to current standards the medical form
a state-licensed physician uses in completing a comprehensive medical
examination”. I don’t actually see this wording in the actual Full Act.
What does this mean? The only thing I’ve able to infer from “the blogs”
is that an applicant will have to declare convictions and drug use. I’ll
find out more!
- For information on existing
BasicMed, see here.
- Sec. 830. Charitable flight
fuel reimbursement exemptions. This section deems that exemptions granted
to volunteer pilot organizations to reimburse pilots providing charitable
transportation for fuel costs and airport fees will be valid for five
years.
- Sec. 831. GAO report on
charitable flights. This section requires GAO to initiate a review of
charitable flights, including: 1) a review of all applicable laws,
regulations, policies, legal opinions, and guidance pertaining to
charitable flights and the operations of such flights; 2) an assessment of
petitions for exemption from the regulation that prohibits reimbursement
for fuel costs for private pilots; and 3) such flights conducted without
an exemption from the regulation that prohibits reimbursement for fuel
costs for private pilots.
- These two sections are
important for many flying clubs (and members) that participate in
charitable flights (public benefit flights).
FAA
Authorization and MOSAIC:
Title
VIII, Sec 824 is fairly brief, yet far reaching. Here is the summary:
- Sec. 824. Modernization of
special airworthiness certification rulemaking deadline. Not later
than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator
shall issue a final rule for the rulemaking activity titled “Modernization
of Special Airworthiness Certification”, published in Fall 2022 in the
long-term actions of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions (RIN 2120–AL50).
- This sets a deadline for the
FAA to publish the final rule on MOSAIC, after taking into consideration
all of the comments received from individuals, industry groups and
consortia.
- Given than the FAA
Reauthorization Act was signed and promulgated on May 16th
2024, the FAA have up to May 2026 to get MOSIAC finalized, but general
consensus seems to point to mid-2025. I imagine the temptation to time
this for AirVenture 2025 is tantalizingly strong!
- For those who have been
living in a cave for the past few years, MOSAIC offers many opportunities
and has the promise to really change that part of General Aviation in
which many of us operate. The 300-page proposed rule speaks to expanding
the scope and size of light sport aircraft certification; broadening the
privileges of sport pilot certificates, training, and endorsements;
refining maintenance requirements; and changing the maintenance training
requirements for those working on light sport aircraft.
- The proposed rule can be
found here.
- AOPA’s take is here.
- An excellent summary is here.
- A document containing the
combined comments from by EAA, AOPA, NATA and NBAA can be found here, and is well worth reading.
MOSAIC
really does present some motivating opportunities for flying clubs and their
members. Here are a few worth considering:
- The club’s A152, C172, PA-28
and similar makes and models will all, very likely, be accommodated under
the expansion of the light sport specification. This means that without
changing aircraft, a club should be able to accept Sport Pilots as flying
members, so expanding the pool of prospective members.
- Existing members may elect to
operate applicable club aircraft under Sport Pilot rules and so avoid the
need for medical certificates or even BasicMed. The Sport Pilot “driving
license medical” will suffice. This may well allow some members to keep
flying provided the planes conform to the MOSAIC LSA specifications.
- Expansion of the LSA
specifications will, undoubtedly, results in an influx of new aircraft
makes and models from countries that have been more generous in their LSA
specifications. There are many European (and probably Brazilian and
others) aircraft manufactures just waiting in the wings to get into the
expanded USA LSA market. This means clubs will have more choice of
aircraft that will cater to a broader range of pilot certificates.
- There are already aircraft
manufactures that are “betting” on MOSAIC. For example, I understand from
conversations last year with RANS Aircraft based in Hays, Kansas, that the
S21 Outbound is “MOSAIC ready”, meaning that whilst it is currently being
sold as a 1,320Ib max gross aircraft with a specific useful load, it has
been designed to be a MOSAIC light sport when the rule is finalized, with
both max gross (and hence useful load) increasing substantially. By the
way, I flew the Outbound at last year’s Midwest LSA Expo in Mount Vernon,
Illinois, and it was quite spectacular—the plane and the Expo. I’m heading
to the Expo again this year, relabeled The Midwest
Aviation Expo, and plan on giving a few presentations and hopefully,
flying some MOSAIC-ready aircraft—see you there!
- Other facets of MOSAIC are the
proposals to allow for more than fixed gear, single reciprocating engine,
and fixed-pitch propeller. In brief, airplanes complying with the new
MOSAIC specifications are going to be very capable craft.
- One area in the notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that got a lot of comments concerns the
maintenance of such aircraft and the qualifications of the mechanics doing
the maintenance and inspections. The NPRM was almost silent on the
training that will be required for those of us who which to maintain
MOSAIC LSAs. You can see the dilemma…the existing Light Sport Repairman
(LSRM) route allows people (including me some years ago) to attend an
intense 15-day course to become certified to maintain (and inspect)
“traditional” LSAs. If a C172, previously requiring A&P and IA
involvement now fits within the expanded MOSAIC specifications, can an
LSRM do maintenance and inspections, perhaps with some additional
training? This is a hot topic and many of us are waiting anxiously to see
what comes out in the final rule. For more information on this, and LRSM
courses in general, visit with Rainbow Aviation and my friends Carol and Brian
Carpenter, who are the experts in all things LSA and LSRM.
- Before leaving MOSAIC, I have
to raise a compete unknown. How are insurance companies going to react to
the MOSAIC rule? I have lots of concerns, but no answers, so we’ll have to
wait and see, but let me throw out a challenge…why don’t you…yeah you…be
the first insurance company to come out with a clear statement on how you
will accommodate MOSAIC and the clubs and pilots that will be clamoring to
take advantage of it. Market share – 101?
Before
signing-off, I’d like to comment on the recent changes that The Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) is making to the Flight Training Security Program
(FTSP), formerly known as the Alien Flight Student Program. The final
rule (which has taken since 2004 to produce) can be found here. This is all about how flight training providers
must undergo security screening and training in order to provide flight
instruction to non-US nationals. Non-US nationals seeking training
must also undergo security screening prior to the commencement of
training.
There are
quite a few changes and clarifications in the final rule, so if you are somehow
involved, I suggest you read it in full…as the rule state: “Flight training
providers and individuals subject to the requirements of this rule must comply
with these sections by July 30, 2024”.
Let me be
clear though—old rules or new rules, this should NEVER apply to flying
clubs. If it does, well, you’re in all sorts of other trouble. As I
have lectured about many times before, a flying club is defined by the FAA as,
amongst other things, a hobby/social club and as such must never be a provider
of flight training or other commercial services. A flying club itself
must never provide club aircraft and CFIs to instruct anyone, so that
necessarily includes non-US nationals. If a club accepts US citizen
student pilots as members—and in my repeated humble opinion I don’t think it
should—then those student-pilot members must separately book the club plane (as
would any other member) and separately book and directly pay an independent
CFI for instructional services. If you state somewhere that the club provides
instructors, you’ve crossed the line and will now be treated as a provider of
commercial flight training—a flight school in other words. By
extension, a flying club itself should never apply to the TSA to be a flight
training provider, as a club is not a flight school. If a club does
decide to extend membership to a non-US national (and again, I advise you to
think long and hard about this), then the independent CFI providing the
instruction must apply to the TSA as the provider of the flight training.
This very
quickly gets messy and risky. Please…just don’t go there!
Finally,
I’ve just found a video of Sam Graves Explaining How The FAA Reauthorization Act Got Done.
As always,
fly lots and fly safely!
