FAA Bills Address Supersonic, GA Protections, Stage 3

While debate is centering on air traffic control reform, key committees in the U.S. House and Senate this week are taking up comprehensive FAA bills addressing a host of issues that range from a study of supersonic regulation, Part 135 flight and duty time and a possible long-term phaseout of Stage 3 aircraft.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is set to consider its six-year reauthorization bill on Tuesday, followed by anticipated Senate Commerce Committee action on its own four-year bill on Thursday.

As expected, the centerpiece of the House bill is the controversial provision to separate ATC from the FAA. That has generated substantial opposition from the business and general aviation community, rural groups and Democrat leaders, but recently received backing of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The Senate bill, lauded by business and general aviation groups as a bipartisan effort that takes a “consensus-driven approach,” meanwhile, would increase oversight of NextGen programs but stops short of any structural change of the FAA.

But both bills tackle a number of issues that are important to the industry, including certification and regulatory reform. These reforms were stripped out of the short-term bill that passed Congress last summer, extending FAA’s current authorization through the end of September. The reforms look to streamline certification, further expand organization designation authorization, support the restructuring efforts of the Flights Standards Service and encourage stronger international collaboration. They also would create a pilot project to facilitate the expansion of remotely-operated towers and address unmanned aircraft systems and consumer issues.

The Senate bill contains a number of provisions aimed at the general aviation community, including the measures of the recently introduced Flight Act to ease general aviation airport funding. It also includes measures in the Pilots' Bill of Rights 2 bill that also were stripped out of last year’s bill.

A number of miscellaneous provisions of note were included, such as a call for FAA to review and report on policies regarding supersonic aircraft over the U.S. This report would identify advancements in design that could mitigate the concerns that led to long-standing restrictions on supersonic aircraft and recommendations “on the laws that would need to be amended to allow the operation of supersonic aircraft over land in the U.S.”

Other Senate bill measures address equal treatment of lessees of large and turbine-powered multi-engine aircraft involved in joint ownership and would establish a pilot program to permit limited operation of Stage 2 aircraft for a period of time.

The Senate bill further would require the FAA to provide air traffic services and aviation safety support for aviation events, including airshows and fly-ins, without assessing any fee, tax or other charge. After the federal budget sequestration set in four years ago, the FAA began charging to provide ATC services as events such as the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Under another Senate measure, the FAA would be required to extend the general aviation aircraft registration timeframe to five years.

While the Senate does not seek substantial organizational reform, the Senate bill includes numerous provisions surrounding NextGen, including a call for an assessment of the entire portfolio and priorities, as well as the development of annual performance goals.

As for the Pilots' Bill of Rights 2 measures, most involve protections during enforcements, particularly in the areas of notification and access to data. Also included is a mandate to expedite improvements to the Notam system.

Other miscellaneous provisions in the Senate bill are aimed at general aviation safety, including weather reporting, collaboration of future flight services and an assessment of data needed for Part 135 safety. Further, another measure is designed to facilitate the transition away from leaded aviation gasoline.

While ATC reform is central to the House bill, the proposed legislation also tackles a range of safety and other issues of note to the business and general aviation community, some that are similar to those in the Senate bill. Like the Senate's, the House version seeks to facilitate the transition to unleaded aviation gasoline.

The bill would extend aircraft registration time frame for general aviation aircraft to 10 years. Additionally, it directs a collaborative study on Part 91 oversight, ways to streamline approval processes and ways to reduce the regulatory burden on those operators. A separate provision would review recent reforms made to general aviation certification practices to assess whether it is reducing costs and improving safety, and to see if there are lessons and practices that can be applied to other certification areas.

Another measure seeks better coordination to reduce conflicts that might be involved with airshows. Protections for the contract power program are included, as is a measure designed to make it easier for individuals to build their own recreational aircraft at airports.

The bill would call for an aviation rulemaking committee to make recommendations about Part 135 flight and duty time regulations and then call on the FAA to launch rulemaking based on those recommendations. The House bill also will address the flight-sharing issue, calling on the FAA to release “in a clear and concise format” guidance on how pilots can legally share expenses with passengers and also calling on the Government Accountability Office to report on the rationale behind federal policies in this area.

The future of Stage 3 also would be evaluated under the House bill. The provision seeks a review of the benefits and impact that would result from a phaseout of Stage 3 aircraft.