FAA

The FAA last week issued a final rule intended to prevent FAA inspectors from working for the airlines they previously oversaw for two years after they leave the agency. The rule applies to FAA personnel who had oversight responsibility over the airlines (as well as over fractional providers and other firms that offer commercial air […]

Conceding that the certification process for light general aviation airplanes has become a complicated and counter-productive morass of rules and restrictions, the FAA has formed a committee whose responsibility will focus on modernizing the design and manufacturing of entry-level Part 23 airplanes.**** FAA officials and industry leaders are hopeful the streamlined regulations will result in […]

The FAA says that a draft advisory circular that seemed to imply that rank-and-file Part 91 aviators would be held to the same standards as charter providers and the airlines when using EFBs (like the Class 1 Apple iPad) was never intended to change the regulatory lay of the land. The FAA’s Steve Morrison, who […]

Until recently, Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) were typically thought of as large computer devices mounted in the cockpits of high-end jets and airliners. They usually relied on a permanent mounting fixture, and needed to be hard-wired into the aircraft’s electrical system. Once installed, these EFBs provided electronic charts, moving map displays and weather in the […]

Despite great uncertainty within the FAA, Administrator Randy Babbitt took some time to show support for the general aviation community today by stopping by EAA AirVenture. With 4,000 FAA employees still furloughed and 70,000 construction workers commissioned for aviation-related projects out of a job, Babbitt gave little indication of an expected end to the shutdown. […]

Nearly 4,000 FAA employees were furloughed Saturday after Congress adjourned Friday without passing an FAA reauthorization bill, prompting a partial FAA shutdown and triggering a ripple effect throughout the country, including at this week’s EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The FAA has issued dozens of stop-work orders for multi-million dollar airport improvement projects, and approximately […]

A heated battle in the House and Senate over union organizing rights is threatening to block congressional action needed to keep the FAA operating, raising the possibility of an agency shutdown as early as this week. The top issue preventing passage of a new FAA reauthorization bill are changes to National Mediation Board rules that […]

Just when it appeared as though the glare of public scrutiny had shifted away from air traffic controllers, the FAA now says it is investigating “the possibility” of a tipsy controller who failed an alcohol test six hours into his eight-hour shift at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center on July 5. The FAA […]

The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) have announced an agreement on new guidelines intended to combat fatigue.** ** The agreement is the latest in a series of attempts by the FAA to restore confidence in America’s air traffic control system, which came under heavy fire earlier this year with a barrage […]

The FAA has launched a major review of general aviation airports across the U.S. to better promote “the many roles and functions” these airports serve in their respective communities. The review, which began last fall, is focusing on infrastructure needs and, the agency says, could lead to reclassifications for many airports.** ** In recent years, […]