FAA Shifts Foreign Procedure Oversight to Operators

The FAA has transferred responsibility for reviewing foreign instrument procedures to operators with guidelines in a new advisory circular and revised authorizations affecting Part 91K, 121, 125, and 135 operations. Principal inspectors are expected to contact operators by September 3 to initiate the reissuance process.

As outlined in its notice, the FAA will remove foreign procedures and airports from OpSpec/MSpec/LOA templates C059, C060, and C384, and decommission C058, C358, and H107. Going forward, operators must evaluate the procedures themselves in accordance with Advisory Circular AC 120-105B, which provides guidance for assessing foreign terminal instrument procedures.

“Operators should expect a call from their inspectors to reissue relevant OpSpecs, MSpecs, or LOAs,” said Rich Boll, chair of NBAA’s airspace and flight technologies subcommittee. “Operators should also understand the revised authorizations put responsibility for assessing foreign instrument procedures on the operator, so operators and pilots will need to become familiar with performance standards used to assess these procedures.”

Boll emphasized that while most procedures follow established international standards such as ICAO’s Procedures for Air Navigation Services Aircraft Operators (PANS-OPS) or the FAA’s Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS), some countries deviate. For example, Mexico generally follows PANS-OPS but uses TERPS circling standards due to a specific national exception.

Operators can typically determine which standard applies by reviewing the country’s Aeronautical Information Publication, but access to those documents, especially in English, can be limited. Chart providers such as Jeppesen may identify the governing standard, but do not always note local exceptions.