Story ID: 
Summit Focuses on A008, Upcoming Inspections
By: AIN Staff
Caption: NATA president James Coyne expressed support for OpSpec A008 this morning at the first annual NATA air charter summit in Leesburg, Va.
Word Count: 177
NATA president James Coyne expressed support for OpSpec A008 this morning at the first annual NATA air charter summit in Leesburg, Va. “We need safety standards for the whole industry,” he said. “And A008 brings for the first time recognition that we need this greater standardization.” NATA also supports A008, Coyne said, because “the whole industry gets dragged down by the least competent.” According to Hooper Harris of the FAA, 36 charter operators still have not acknowledged receipt of A008. If those operators do not respond by the end of this month, their A008 authorization will be rescinded and they will not be able to operate, he said. NATA is also working with Jet Solutions to create a new online tool to assess and track an operator’s compliance with regulations. The program will assess more than 300 regulations from the FAA, the Transportation Security Administration and others, and will be available by subscription this summer or fall. Meanwhile, Harris said the FAA’s upcoming compliance inspections related to A008 will focus on three areas–surveillance, inspection and investigation.