MOSAIC Comments Show Support
The future of the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) is in the hands of the FAA after a six-month comment period generated over 1300 responses. MOSAIC proposes to greatly expand the size, performance, and types of aircraft in the Light Sport category. Comments reflected overwhelming support for MOSAIC, which would eliminate the 1320-pound weight limit and replace it with a 54-knot maximum clean stall and a top speed of 250 knots. Most groups recommended increasing that further to as high as 61 knots, which would include aircraft in the 3500-pound range. Most aviation groups aligned with EAA’s comments but the General Aviation Manufacturers Association wrote its own, calling for more study on the safety of increasing the size and performance of aircraft in the category.
NetJets Imposes Age 70 Retirement
NetJets established a mandatory retirement age of 70 for pilots and about 100 were terminated as a result. The compulsory retirement option was contained in a Congressional omnibus bill passed in 2022 and gave Part 135 companies the choice of whether to implement it. If they did, the change is permanent. NetJets pilots’ union challenged the limit but an arbitrator ruled against it. A group of eight pilots requested an injunction that was rejected by a federal court. Business Jet Traveler reported the court’s decision, “Because the court concludes that the pilots failed to establish that any of their claims is likely to succeed on the merits, and this case does not warrant the exceptionally rare preliminary injunction under the [Railway Labor Act], the court denies the motion for preliminary injunction.”
