Much has been said and written about the FAA’s plans to overhaul the decades-old regulations governing the certification of Part 23 airplanes. The new regulations, we are told, will cut certification costs in half. These savings will be passed along to consumers – that is, us pilots. Congress likes the idea so much that it has crafted legislation that will hold the FAA accountable by requiring the agency to adopt the new regs by the end of 2015, somewhat earlier than the FAA had been aiming for.
There’s just one problem with the plan. The FAA isn’t doing much certifying of anything these days. Arguing that the impact of sequestration has essentially tied its hands, the FAA’s certification branch is telling companies that make general aviation products that they simply don’t have the resources to perform all the certification work that’s required right now. Even NextGen, the FAA’s ambitious plan to overhaul the nation’s air traffic infrastructure, is facing slowdowns because of the budget cuts.
