International ’Priority Service’ Limits Delayed

The FAA postponed until January 1 next year a decision to limit “priority service” for aircraft registration in connection with conducting international flights to allow only one request per aircraft (by N-number) in any three-month period. The original implementation date was June 1. Without priority service, issuance of the registration certificate takes nearly 40 days following receipt of an application. But the agency said it has been inundated recently with requests for priority service and its staff cannot handle them in a timely manner. Fractional programs conducting international flights are the operation most likely to be affected due to relatively frequent and regular changes in ownership. Over the next several months, the FAA intends to continue efforts with NBAA, the National Air Transportation Association and others, particularly fractional providers, to determine an alternative solution. In the meantime, the FAA intends to increase “surveillance and enforcement of abusers of the priority service system.”