NATA News

Senate Bill 619, the NATA-sponsored bill to provide relief to California flight training facilities, has been passed by both houses of the California legislature and is now headed to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. If signed, SB 619 would provide an exemption from the regulations issued by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) for all California flight training providers and programs that:

1. do not require students to enter into a contract of indebtedness, and
2.  do not require the upfront payment of fees in excess of $2500

NATA has been fighting for the California flight training industry since early 2010 when the state legislature instituted new rules that brought the industry under the regulatory authority of the BPPE. The resulting regulations, which failed to account for the unique nature and structure of flight training businesses, threatened to force many in the industry to close their doors. In late 2010, NATA secured a legislative delay in compliance with the BPPE rules that provided the time needed to push for a long-term fix this year.

Last week, NATA issued an action call to all of its California members asking them to contact the governor’s office and request that he sign SB619 without delay. The administrative process of getting the bill before the governor for signing, known as enrollment, could take up to one week. If signed, the bill would go into effect immediately.

Click here to read Senate Bill 619.

Click here to read NATA’s Action Call on Senate Bill 619.

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Last week, the FAA issued a long-awaited final rule regarding flight training titled Pilot in Command Proficiency Check and Other Changes to the Pilot and Pilot School Certification Rules. This final rule makes significant changes to the regulations affecting flight training, and completes the rulemaking begun with the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in August 2009. Some of the changes include:

• Allowance for combined private pilot and instrument rating training programs under both Part 61 and Part 141
• Addition of a requirement for a recurrent Pilot-in-Command proficiency check for pilots of single-piloted turbojet aircraft. The FAA did respond to industry comments by exempting from this rule pilots of experimental jets that do not carry passengers

One of the rule changes that had been proposed in the NPRM preceding last week’s final rule that would have exchanged the requirement for 10 hours of training in a complex aircraft for 10 hours for commercial pilot certification with 10 hours of advanced instrument training was not adopted by the FAA. In a regulatory report published last week, NATA expressed its disappointment with the FAA’s decision not to finalize the changes to the commercial pilot training standards:

“[While] NATA is pleased with the majority of this rulemaking… the association is disappointed that the FAA has decided not to adopt the changes that had been proposed to commercial pilot training. As stated in NATA’s comments to the NPRM that preceded this final rule: Today’s fleet of single-engine complex aircraft that are suitable for flight training are quickly approaching 30 years in service. After decades in use as flight training aircraft, many of these complex aircraft are quickly becoming unsuitable for flight training, either through increased maintenance costs or safety issues. Since aircraft manufacturers have moved away from producing single-engine complex aircraft that would be suitable for flight training, flight schools and student pilots are left little option.””

Click here to read the final rule.

Click here to read NATA’s regulatory report on the final rule. 

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On August 22, the FAA issued a final rule restricting the ability of certificated operators to employ former FAA personnel to represent those operators’ interests before the agency. Specifically, under this rule, a certificated operator may not:

“Knowingly employ or make a contractual arrangement which permits an individual to act as an agent or representative of the certificate holder in any matter before the Federal Aviation Administration if the individual, in the preceding 2 years—
(1) Served as, or was directly responsible for the oversight of a Flight Standards Service aviation safety inspector; and
(2) Had direct responsibility to inspect, or oversee the inspection of, the operations of the certificate holder.”

This rule does not affect an operator’s ability to employ former FAA personnel for positions that do not include representing the operator’s interests before the FAA.

Click here to read NATA’s regulatory report on this rule. 

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NATA President & CEO James K. Coyne’s opinion editorial within the association’s 3rd quarter edition of its Aviation Business Journal titled “How to Fire Your Airport Manager” has sparked a great deal of discussion within the industry. Members are strongly encouraged to read Coyne’s op-ed, which can be found as a blog on the association’s Web site by clicking here. The article discusses the power of the “pink slip” and its use in the private sector versus the public sector.

Members can also post their comments at the end of Coyne’s blog.

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The SPCC rules require facilities with aboveground storage of oils (including aviation fuels) in excess of 1,320 gallons to have and implement an SPCC plan. If a facility stores more than 10,000 gallons, its SPCC plan must be certified by a professional engineer. The rules governing SPCC underwent a major re-write in 2002 and amendments in 2006 and 2009. Now, the deadline for compliance with all three rule changes is just around the corner.

The SPCC Compliance Webinar will give your facility the latest information on compliance with the complex rules and will include featured speaker, George Gamble, founder of 2G Environmental. 2G Environmental was founded in 2003 and has extensive experience in aviation-specific SPCC plans and other areas of environmental compliance.

Webinar attendees will receive answers to the following vital questions:

• What are the SPCC rules and how do they apply to aviation facilities?
• What does the November 10 deadline mean? Is my facility included?
• What new components must be included in SPCC plans by November 10?
• What are the possible fines for non-compliance with the SPCC rules?

In addition to answering those questions, attendees will have a chance to ask their own questions to one of the aviation industry’s leading experts on SPCC compliance.

For only $49.95 your entire staff will have the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming SPCC Compliance deadline. Make sure your facility is prepared. Register now for the NATA SPCC Compliance Webinar!

Click here to register now. 

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All aviation quality control systems are composed of many overlapping layers of protection from fuel contamination and degradation. One of those layers is the fuel filter differential pressures test. This test is designed to measure the difference in the pressure of the fuel flowing into and out of a filter vessel. Since fuel flowing across any filter experiences a pressure drop, this test provides an indication of the relative “health” of the filter elements. Gradual increases in the differential pressure across a set of filter elements over time is natural as those elements slowly become clogged with contaminates. A sudden increase in differential pressure provides an indication that a large amount of contaminates have been removed from the fuel by the elements. A sudden drop in differential pressure is an indication that an element seal may be leaking and allowing fuel to bypass the filters altogether. Either of these situations would require further investigation by a trained technician to ensure that fuel quality is maintained.

One of the intricacies of the differential pressure test that is often misunderstood is the relationship between fuel flow rate and pressure drop. The results of the differential pressure test are directly proportional to fuel flow rate (i.e. the higher the flow rate, the higher the pressure drop). This property of the differential pressure test is important to understand so an accurate record of differential pressure can be maintained.

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NATA Headquarters will be closed today, September 5, 2011, in observance of Labor Day. NATA will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, September 6, 2011.

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