NATA News

The 2010 NATA ASC brochure is now available for download by clicking here.

Those members interested in receiving professionally printed hard copies of this brochure may contact Eric Byer on the NATA.

The provisions in the bill are significant, including raising pilot-training standards, setting requirements for the airlines’ remedial training programs, mandating that airlines adopt additional safety oversight programs, allowing airlines complete access to the flight records of potential pilots, and boosting inspections of flight school and airline training programs. The bill also calls for an independent study of scientific research on pilot fatigue and would require that the findings be included in the FAA’s upcoming new flight-time and duty-time rules for pilots. Senator Schumer would like to add an amendment to the bill that would mandate that newly hired co-pilots at commercial airlines have 1,500 hours of flying experience, just as pilots must have. The current requirement for co-pilots is 250 hours. These provisions were not included in the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of FAA reauthorization legislation (H.R. 915) but were introduced in a stand-alone bill on aviation safety (H.R. 3371).

Senate Majority Leader Reid cited two reasons for movement on FAA reauthorization. First, the Senate has passed its version of health care reform, which has occupied the chamber for months and, second, the impending deadline of March 31 for the current short-term extension of the FAA bill.

S. 1451 still hasn’t cleared the next hurdle of mark-up in the Senate Committee on Finance. It is unclear whether a formal mark-up will take place before the bill is sent to the floor of the Senate. At this time, it remains unknown whether the bill will be a long-term authorization of three years, as the U.S. House of Representatives has proposed, or a one-year authorization that has been rumored in the Senate.

To learn more about FAA reauthorization, please click here.

To read Coyne’s Capitol View Blog in its entirety, please click here.

• Access controls for the facility, aircraft and/or aircraft components
• Measures for identifying individuals with access to the facility, aircraft and/or aircraft components
• Procedures for challenging unauthorized individuals
• Security awareness training for employees
• The name of the facility’s designated security coordinator
• A contingency plan
• The means to verify employee background information

NATA’s comments noted that the TSA had addressed some of the wide ranging diversity in repair station operations and facilities that would prevent a one-size-fits-all security approach from being effective but had failed to see the effects of strictly regulating mixed-use facilities.

“Many fixed base operators (FBOs) hold a repair station certificate to allow them to perform additional maintenance tasks.  The actual repair station may only be a single workbench or file cabinet within the larger facility.  The majority of the operations at these types of facilities may be completely unrelated to the repair station certificate… The TSA must ensure that the final regulations address its concerns with security at repair stations and do not, by failing to account for mixed-use facilities, impose unintended burdens on non-regulated entities.”

In addition to addressing the issue of repair station diversity, NATA’s comments also addressed:

• Exemptions
• On-airport facilities
• Off-site maintenance
• The anti-competitive nature of the proposed rules
• Sensitive Security Information
• Certificate suspensions & appeals
• TSA inspection authority
• Profile submissions
• Regulatory Balance & Security Directives

The public comment period for the repair station security NPRM has now closed. NATA’s comments to the TSA may be viewed by clicking here.

The award is based on the percentage of AMTs employed (directly or indirectly) by a maintenance organization that participate in qualified training events. An AMT must complete at least 12 hours of training each year to be counted towards the organization’s award percentage.

“This award is meant to complement the FAA's Aviation Maintenance Technician Award. Our maintenance organization members found the paperwork for the existing FAA award program to be cumbersome and time-consuming. The NATA Aviation Maintenance Technician Employer Recognition Program will lighten the paperwork burden while acknowledging employers that support education and training within the aviation maintenance industry,” said NATA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs Eric R. Byer.

The recognition program was developed in coordination with the NATA Aircraft Maintenance and System Technology Committee. Members of the Maintenance Committee represent some of the world's largest maintenance and repair organizations. At the committee's direction, the award requires maintenance technicians to complete a minimum of 12 hours of training per year in order to be counted towards the employer's award. That training may cover company policies and procedures, safety programs, vendor-conducted equipment or component training, or other aviation maintenance-related topics. On-the-job training also qualifies a technician for the program and is easy to quantify and track for the NATA Aviation Maintenance Technician Employer Recognition Program.

The program will run on a calendar year, so training hours between January 1 and December 31 will qualify for 2010 recognition.

“We believe this program is a benefit not only to our maintenance and repair facility members but also to our charter, management, and training members. Maintenance organizations will be recognized for supporting technicians who complete training above and beyond that required by the FAA, making it easier for aircraft operators to identify repair stations that go the extra mile to ensure technicians are up-to-date. Additionally, we hope the award will encourage maintenance organizations to provide additional safety training, raising the safety bar for the entire aviation industry,” explained Byer.

For more information on the award, please click here. 

NATA is thrilled to announce that Gary Driggers, long-time executive at Midcoast Aviation, has been selected as this year's recipient for the William A. "Bill" Ong Memorial Award. Driggers, a former NATA chairman and member of the board of directors, recently retired from Midcoast Aviation after 22 years of service. As senior vice president, Driggers was responsible for managing key customer and vendor relationships and was the company's face to industry organizations and OEMs. He started his career in aviation when he served his country as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Before joining Midcoast Aviation in 1988, he had been a client of the St. Louis-based MRO and completions center. During his tenure, Driggers served Midcoast Aviation in various senior management functions, with the company growing from 100 to 1,500 employees.

“Gary is a long-time supporter and friend of the association and this great industry,” stated NATA President James K. Coyne. “Gary played an instrumental part in the growth of Midcoast Aviation as well as in the development of NATA’s Safety 1st program as an early program advocate and founding member. The NATA Board of Directors is honored to commemorate Gary’s devotion to our industry by bestowing upon him the association’s highest honor, the William A. “Bill” Ong Memorial Award.”

The NATA Award for Distinguished Service will be presented to the Honorable Jerry Costello (D-IL), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation. Costello, a long-time supporter of the general aviation community, began his career shortly after his graduation from high school, working full time as a law enforcement officer while attending college. After graduating from Maryville University, Costello became recognized throughout the state for his creativity and ability in administering the region's court services system. In 1980, he was elected chairman of the St. Clair County Board, chief executive for one of Illinois' largest counties. He took that experience to Congress in August 1988. As a senior Democrat on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the second-ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Science and Technology, Costello has had a prominent role in writing several major pieces of legislation while focusing on improving the transportation infrastructure of our nation and his district. Costello is currently in his third year as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation. In 2007, he wrote and led passage of the $68 billion bill in the House to reauthorize the programs of the FAA to ensure that this nation’s air transportation system remains the safest in the world.

“The NATA Board of Directors is deeply honored to celebrate the many outstanding legislative accomplishments achieved by Chairman Costello,” stated Coyne. “Chairman Costello’s drive to advance aviation safety and implement NextGen, in addition to his steadfast leadership in shepherding an FAA Reauthorization bill void of user fees, makes him the perfect choice as this year’s recipient of NATA’s Distinguished Service Award.”

The association will also be honoring winners for the following awards during its Industry Excellence Awards Dinner on April 21 including:

• Airport Executive Partnership Award
• Aviation Journalism Award
• Excellence in Pilot Training Award
• FAA Customer Excellence Award
• ATP/NATA General Aviation Service Technician Award

To learn more about NATA’s Industry Excellence Awards Dinner and annual Day on the Hill event, please click here.

Gate Safe follows strict chain of custody requirements and continually updates the necessary training and tools to conform to the ongoing revisions in federally mandated airline and airport regulations. With the push for 100-percent cargo screening as mandated by the TSA by August 2010, and in response to the increasingly stringent TSA security directives to the overall aviation environment, Gate Safe is focused on cargo screening and inspection, together with aircraft access control, aircraft cabin searches, crew screening, perimeter and checkpoint access control, and airline catering inspection. 

The company offers trained personnel to perform a complete lineup of efficient, cost-effective TSA-regulated compliance solutions for airlines, indirect air carriers, cargo handlers and Certified Cargo Screening Facilities.

Over 500 Gate Safe employees provide services at 36 airports across the U.S. for more than 90 domestic and international air carriers. Additionally, the company operates at 17 of the 18 airports considered "focus hubs" by the TSA for air cargo, including all of the mainland U.S. cargo gateways. 

Gate Safe is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a member of gategroup, the leading global provider of onboard products and services serving people on the move. For more information, please visit our Web site: www.gate-safe.com, or contact +1 (770) 991-4531.

Andi and Dan Montgomery from Montgomery Aviation in Indiana are two such returning participants who first attended NATA’s FBO Success Seminar in 2008. Andi talked to us about her experiences with the seminar and why she felt it important to come back this year. She said, “There isn’t a book that can cover all the aspects of running an FBO. This seminar provides a forum for operations just like mine to discuss what works for us and what doesn’t. What might be a good idea or a bad idea for one FBO, might not be for another and I would have never learned from these experiences without an outlet like this.” In reference to lasting relationships, she added, “The ideas and support gained from this seminar are invaluable. Even after two years, I still keep in touch with the instructors and attendees from the first seminar. I can relate to these professionals and their experiences, and they help me to run my business better.”

This year to foster the information sharing and relationship building aspects of this seminar further, NATA has added an industry roundtable and reception as well as scheduled three other popular seminars to take place during Spring Training Week. NATA Director of Safety & Training Amy Koranda said, “NATA’s goal is to give our members well-rounded educational and networking experiences as well as provide convenience and budget-savings, all while minimizing time away from the office. I feel that we are accomplishing this tall list of prerequisites well with events such as Spring Training Week.”

To find out more about this seminar and others held at NATA’s Spring Training Week, visit www.nata.aero/springtraining.       

George S. Gamble, PE, 2G Environmental, LLC will cover the following topics:

• Spill Prevention, Control And Countermeasures (SPCC) Regulations And The New Parts Effective As Of November 10, 2010
• Storm Water Permitting And Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans
• Waste Issues (hazardous waste, universal waste, waste oil and waste fuel)
• Underground Storage Tanks

New this seminar, NATA Director of Regulatory Affairs Mike France will also provide a brief overview of legislative and regulatory issues that could affect our industry, including:

• The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme effect on U.S.-based aircraft operators
• Future of Lead Regulation
• De-Icing runoff regulation
• Future of “Cap & Trade” Regulation
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulation

• Increase awareness of all applicable regulations
• Ensure compliance with new environmental mandates
• Avoid costly errors and negative press
• Discuss best management practices
• Review procedures, equipment and requirements

Who Should Attend?

• FBO Owners/General Managers
• Aviation/Airport Managers
• Regulatory Compliance Managers
• Environmental Compliance Managers

NATA’s Spring Training Week takes place March 15-17 in Las Vegas at the Aviation Industry Expo. NATA’s LSST, FBO Success and Safety 1st Trainers seminars will also be offered at Spring Training Week. Visit www.nata.aero/springtraining for more details and to register.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics Airline Data:
http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/

DOT’s Small Community Air Service Development Program:
http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X-50%20Role_files/smallcommunity.htm

EPA’s Transportation Sector Web Page:
http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/bizsector/transportation.html

OSHA’s Compliance Assistance Web Page:
http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/index.html

TSA’s Air Cargo Web Page:
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/air_cargo/index.shtm

TSA’s Commercial Airlines Web Page:
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/commercial_airlines/index.shtm

TSA’s Commercial Airports Web Page:
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/commercial_airports/index.shtm