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NATA is the National Air Transportation Association
Founded in 1940, NATA aggressively promotes safety and the success of aviation service businesses through its advocacy efforts before government, the media and the public as well as by providing valuable programs and forums to further its members’ prosperity.
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| California Regulation Of Flight Training |
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| Last week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill 1889 (AB 1889) due to labor provisions contained in the bill. AB 1889 was also the vehicle passed by the California Legislature to provide for a delay in compliance, for flight training facilities, with rules issued by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education. The veto was completely unrelated to the flight training provisions contained in the bill.
Currently, the California Legislature is in special sessions to pass a state budget. NATA is continuing its work in Sacramento to get a delay in compliance through the Legislature and signed by the governor. A delay in compliance will allow time for the industry, in partnership with the Legislature, to change applicable statutes to account for the diverse nature of the flight training industry.
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| Senators Introduce Aviation Security Reform Bill |
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Last week, U. S. Senators Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Scott Brown (R-MA), both members of the U.S. Senate Committee in Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, introduced legislation to enhance the safety of American airports by improving air passenger screening programs and bolstering state and local law enforcement partnerships to deter terrorism. The Aviation Security Innovation & Reform (AIR) Act seeks to standardize the training of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) screening workforce by ensuring that every Transportation Security Officer receives increased baseline training nationwide and anti-terrorism training with bi-annual re-certifications.
"As elected officials, our single-most important task is keeping our country and citizens safe from terror attacks, and that is why I'm pleased to introduce the Aviation Security Innovation and Reform bill," said Sen. Brown. "Last year's Christmas Day bombing attempt was a stark reminder that terrorists are still actively plotting to kill our citizens, and we need to provide our law enforcement officials the tools and resources they need to adapt to the constantly evolving tactics of today's terrorists. This is an important step toward bolstering our homeland security and preventing terrorists from turning our airports into battlefields as they plot their attacks."
“We must continue to strengthen transportation security and make sure the men and women at our nation's airports and other transportation centers have the best training possible,” said Sen. Carper. “To effectively detect the bad guys, screeners must have the latest tools and most advanced training. We'll need to get smarter, adapt to the new techniques of those who wish to do us harm, and invest in the people on the front lines."
The AIR act attempts to set higher performance standards for screeners and raise the minimum training requirements to improve screeners’ ability to spot potential terrorists. It would also create an office to coordinate all of the behavior detection programs within the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that help TSA personnel spot terrorist suspects and other criminals without using expensive technology. There are currently disparate programs throughout the DHS that study and implement behavior detection. This bill would bring them all together under one roof. Lastly, it would improve state and local law enforcement partnerships, which is something that is crucial to thwarting terrorism plots.
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| Congress Passes CR On Government Spending Before Adjourning |
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The day before the end of the fiscal year, Congress approved a stopgap spending bill, or a continuing resolution (CR), to keep the federal government operating through December 3, 2010. A CR is necessary when appropriations bills for each federal agency are not approved before the end of the congressional fiscal year. The CR provided funding for existing federal programs at their current appropriations levels.
Congress adjourned late Wednesday night to allow Members of Congress to focus on their respective elections. A lame duck session is expected to begin on November 15, 2010.
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| Senate Confirms ICAO Nominee Duane Woerth |
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On September 29, 2010, the U.S. Senate officially confirmed Duane E. Woerth as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Woerth was most recently the senior vice president at an Internet advertising firm in Omaha, Nebraska, that he co-founded. From 1999 to 2006, he served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association. Immediately following the attacks of 9/11, he was appointed by United States Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to serve on the Rapid Response Team for Aircraft Security. Additionally, he was co-chairman of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Executive Council, a private sector organization developed to work with the Department of Transportation and FAA to modernize the national airspace system through 2025. Woerth earned a B.S. in business from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. He served in the United States Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Woerth was nominated for the position by President Obama on July 1, 2010. The delay in confirmation left the United States at a disadvantage since the position had been vacant for 18 months.
Last week, NATA joined other aviation industry groups in a joint letter to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) requesting timely attention to the final confirmation of Woerth.
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| House Approves NTSB Reauthorization Bill |
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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a four-year authorization for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) last week. “H.R. 4714, the National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2010, provides the Safety Board with additional tools it needs to accomplish its crucial mission. To maintain its position as the world’s preeminent investigative agency, the NTSB must have the resources necessary to handle increasingly complex accident investigations,” Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said.
The bill authorizes increased funding over the next four years: $107.6 million in fiscal year (FY) 2011, $115.3 million in FY 2012, $122.2 million in FY 2013, and $124.2 million in FY 2014. These funding levels will allow the NTSB to hire an additional 66 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, increasing its staffing to 477 FTEs. According to the NTSB’s 2009 human capital forecast, 477 FTEs represent the agency’s optimal staffing level and enables it to take on more investigations and accomplish detailed examinations of transportation safety issues.
In addition, H.R. 4714 gives the NTSB the authority to issue subpoenas in all investigations. In a few cases, NTSB investigations have been hindered or delayed when the recipients of subpoenas have not complied, arguing that the NTSB’s authority to issue subpoenas only extends to the conduct of public hearings. H.R. 4714 makes it clear that the NTSB’s subpoena authority extends equally to all investigations: those that require public hearings, as well as those that do not.
The bill also clarifies that the NTSB is not required to determine a single cause or probable cause of a transportation accident, but may determine that there was more than one probable cause. The bill keeps pace with advances in accident investigation, which recognize that a particular accident is rarely attributable to a single cause or probable cause, and that most accidents happen as the result of cumulative factors.
The bill also holds the NTSB accountable, by requiring the agency to develop a list of criteria that it will use to determine whether to hold a public hearing in any particular investigation.
H.R. 4714 also permits the NTSB, upon coordination with the State Department, to investigate a transportation accident that occurred overseas, and to use appropriated funds to complete that investigation. The NTSB accepted such a delegation of responsibility by the government of Afghanistan to investigate the 2004 crash of Blackwater 61, in which six Americans lost their lives.
The bill has been referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
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| FAA To Provide NATA With Workshop On Satellite Repair Stations |
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| The FAA will provide NATA members with an open forum workshop on the satellite (Part 145) repair station guidance. Since the guidance was published, several organizations have been successfully brought into the new system. Under the satellite system, a repair station with multiple locations would operate under only one manual and only one primary oversight system. While the trade-off can be highly beneficial to an organization, there are several hurdles in the transition to the new system.
The workshop will be led by Marty Bailey, manager, repair station branch (AFS340), and is open to all NATA members. Bailey intends the session to be interactive and to encourage active participation by the attendees. The session will be held at the conclusion of the NATA Aircraft Maintenance and System Technology Committee meeting at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 18.
The tentative start time of this informational session is set for 4:30 p.m. in the Hanover D room.
For more information, please contact NATA staff Dennis van de Laar at dvandelaar@nata.aero
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| NATA Webinar On Strategic Business Planning |
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| In today’s environment, aviation businesses face a wide array of external challenges, including inconsistent regulations, airport relations issues and economic pressures. These external challenges are often easy for business managers and owners to identify, but what can often go unnoticed is the internal, long term, strategic challenges that can slowly work to undermine an aviation business.
NATA recognizes the challenge of addressing these internal issues and is pleased to offer The Strategic Business Plan - A Critical Tool for Developing, Operating, Managing, and Marketing an Aviation Business, a webinar to be held on Wednesday, October 13. The webinar will provide attendees with a deeper insight into:
- The role, purpose, and importance of the strategic business plan
- The key elements and essential components of the strategic business plan
- A best practices approach for developing the strategic business plan
At only $49.95 per location, this webinar provides an excellent opportunity to provide your entire business management staff a thorough introduction in the strategic business planning process. Visit www.nata.aero for more details or click here to register now.
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| Mark Your Calendars Now! |
| NATA's 2011 FBO Leadership Conference |
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The FBO Leadership Conference is uniquely designed from the ground up for the leaders of FBOs of all sizes to gather, share best practices and have a little fun along the way. The 2011 FBO Leadership Conference will be held at the Savannah Convention Center immediately preceding NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference. This gives attendees an optimal opportunity to meet with their customers and learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
For more information or to register to attend the event, visit www.nata.aero/fbolc or contact Diane Gleason at dgleason@nata.aero.
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| Social Media Strategies Webinar Gets Thumbs Up |
| Recording Now Available |
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Did you already make the decision to add social media to your business and marketing plan? Do you need to know how to improve productivity and enhance your use of social media channels? Developed to help take social media practitioners and professionals to the next level, this webinar covers the finer elements of planning, tools, execution, policies and standards, and monitoring.
“I found the webinar extremely informative and much more useful than others I have attended in the past. I can't wait to get the presentation slides. I had three questions written down before it was even Q&A time.” Christine Preston, Conklin & de Decker
You can still catch this highly informative webinar by purchasing the recording. A copy of the information presented is also included with your order.
Click here to place order - $49.95
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| Aviation Business Journal - You Be The Editor |
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 The Aviation Business Journal staff would like to know more about our readers, your thoughts on the publication and how we can best suit your needs. Aviation Business Journal is distributed quarterly by mail to all NATA member companies and is also available online by clicking here. We would like to ask you to take a moment to complete a brief survey to help us continue to improve the Aviation Business Journal. To access the survey, please click here.
To show our appreciation for your time and insight, responses received by October 6, 2010, will be rewarded with a complimentary registration to any NATA E-learn webinar. Thank you to those who have already responded. We will contact you on October 6 regarding your free webinar registration.
If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Linda Pylant at lpylant@nata.aero.
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| FAA Re-registration Is Approaching |
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Before too long, the FAA will begin sending out the first batch of postcards informing aircraft owners of the need to re-register their aircraft. The first aircraft that must go through this process are those that were initially registered in March of any year. The owners in that group will need to jump through the required hoops between November 2010 and January 2011 if they want to ensure receipt of the new registration prior to their current registration’s expiration on March 31, 2011.
NATA and AIC Title Service, LLC have made available an affordable, simple to use program that allows for re-registrations to be professionally processed and tracked using a straightforward Web interface.
This new program is in response to a recently published FAA final rule that will require all currently registered aircraft to complete an aircraft re-registration according to a specific schedule over the next three years and then renew that registration every three years thereafter.
The table below outlines the re-registration schedule adopted by the FAA.
Learn more about these benefits by visiting www.nata.aero/aic. The cost is just $45 per aircraft re-registration or renewal.
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| Byer’s Weekly Blog |
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| This week, NATA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs Eric R. Byer discusses how the old adage that time heals all wounds certainly does not apply to the aviation community when it comes to Congress’ inability to pass a long-term FAA reauthorization bill.
To read Byer’s blog, please click here.
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| Fact Of The Week – Environmental News |
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| Last week, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) began its triennial meeting in Montreal, Canada. ICAO’s 190 member states, including the United States, will work on addressing safety, security and environmental issues. Of those issues, environmental concerns are taking a more controversial role as the European Union (EU) implements its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Many ICAO members, including the U.S., believe that the EU’s unilateral action on ETS is improper and possibly illegal.
As NATA reported to its membership in early 2009, the ETS would require operators based in non-EU countries to participate if they fly into or out of an EU airport. Those operators would be required to purchase credits for the emissions of those flights even though the majority of the flying time, and thus emissions, occurred outside EU airspace.
According to the Montreal Gazette, ICAO will be working to design a global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. Such a frame work could negate the need for nation-specific reduction plans such as ETS and prevent international aircraft operators from being subjected to a patchwork of rules and regulations depending on their destination.
For more information on ETS and ICAO, click here for the full Montreal Gazette article.
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