Avionics News May 2012 - 64

VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
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other design approvals, 2,971 production approvals and 508 airworthiness certificates. In addition to the normal work load, add the constantly shifting direction from its chief investors in Congress. Placing the FAA into a business environment helps us understand the limitations of the FAA and the opportunities we have to help ourselves. While a typical company often considers and reacts to the demands of its investors, a government agency must consider and react to the demands of the public, which is represented by Congress. So, you always have the normal business considerations; efficiencies, production and public relations. But, Congress also reacts to public pressure on emotional issues ranging from the 2001 commercial highjackings, to the regional airline accidents of 2006 and 2009, to the labor issues surrounding the growth of international aviation commerce. Now, add the current fiscal challenges faced by national governments worldwide, and you have a limited NAA with limited ability to service the industry at a time when technology is growing at an unprecedented rate. So, let’s return to the original question: Why did the last generation of managers not fix the challenges that industry identified? The answer seems fairly obvious. In the list of high visibility priorities driving the agencies, we in general aviation typically operate below the radar – we don’t usually end up on the front page of national news. Congress is focused on the political drivers, and the FAA reacts to Con64
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gress. The good news is we aren’t generating the media that causes the agency to engage and improve our industry. But, the bad news is we aren’t generating the media that causes the agency to engage and improve our industry. It’s good to be below the radar, but at the same time, it’s difficult to engage the agency on relief for small businesses when it can show the current policy regulations and guidance keeps the accidents and incidents generated from the 7,000 commercial operators at a low level. In addition, budget issues add to the constantly changing focus of the managers. After a five-year political debate and 23 short-term extensions, Congress finally passed the FAA reauthorization on Feb. 6, 2012. The four-year bill authorizes $15.9 billion annually through fiscal year 2015; however, this is only the authorization and not the actual budgets. International economics has caused many nations to either implement austerity programs, or, at a minimum, focus on national debt and develop programs to implement budget austerity elements. For the U.S., this was done by the Congressional Super Committee in 2010, and while it was unable to reach agreements, it has a process called sequestration, which will automatically cut up to $55 billion from domestic programs annually through 2021. The effect of sequestration will certainly have a direct impact on the FAA’s budget and Congressional ability to budget the FAA at its authorization levels. I recently heard a former NAA official put the challenges in perspective. With all of the constantly moving objectives initiated by Congress and the needs of the high pro-

file segments of aviation, success for this manager was the ability to keep the FAA operating, while at the same time, protecting general aviation from anything negative and exceptionally onerous. So, if the managers must focus on high profile issues and cannot solve the challenges of the general aviation industry, it is up to industry to take an active role in the design, certification and installation and maintenance of current and future products. It is up to industry to meet the training challenges to keep up with technology and solve the certification and installation challenges. What can industry do? We must be sensitive in our use of FAA resources. We need to leverage delegation when possible. We should be sensitive to properly address major/minor alteration issues. Using FAA resources for field approval for minor alterations is a waste of valuable resources. However, at the same time, the agency must address its internal processes and propensity to second-guess past alterations. To help relieve some of the agency’s resources, the AEA is partnering with ASTM International to develop avionics standards for avionics systems, thereby eliminating the agency’s resource investment in developing standards for new non-essential safety-enhancing technologies and products. As industry, we will continue to appreciate the distinction between the high-profile commercial operations and the small businesses supporting general aviation. We will continue to investigate areas where the industry can support new technology efforts and minimize the reliance on the limited resources of AVS. q

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Avionics News May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2012