Avionics News July 2014 - 19

early equipage, the FAA is dragging its feet on the
incentive program by not signing the loan guarantee
certificate. Until they issue the loan guarantee certificates, nothing moves on this program.
Keep in mind; the monies raised for financing
these loans are from private investors. Our industry
is not asking for government money; we are only
asking for the FAA to immediately issue the loan
guarantee certificates - as they were directed by
Congress to do so.
With these incentives in place, the industry has
indicated it still has the capacity to manage the
groundswell of installations, assuming aircraft owners have renewed faith in the FAA, that the deadline will not be extended, and certifications will be
streamlined.
A recent survey of AEA members indicated that in
order to meet this new demand, more than 75 percent of the 700 FAA-certified U.S. repair stations will
expand and hire more employees - this is job creation!
A direct contributor of nearly $40 billion to the
U.S. gross domestic product - according to the FAA
Air Traffic Organization - general aviation is a
significant contributor to the overall health of the
economy.
If we are able to tackle the challenges I have
outlined, general aviation will continue to have a
positive economic impact, create jobs, and sustain
our service to the law enforcement, agricultural and
medical communities that rely upon us.
In closing, we ask the administrator to begin
the long leadership recovery to restore the culture
of can do. It is the agency's historical culture that
created the greatest aviation industry in the world.
Without this leadership, the industry will continue to
suffer, and this mandate, as well as future mandates,
is destined to fail. In addition, the challenges we ask
Congress to address include:
1. An effort by the FAA to incentivize aircraft
owners by immediately signing the loan guarantee
certificate for the NextGen GA Fund.
2. Streamlining the certification process to produce efficiencies in ADS-B installations.
3. Restore aircraft owners' confidence in the FAA
that this deadline won't be extended and their money
is well spent.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf
of the general aviation industry.

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
United States
The following information is from the Aircraft
Electronics Association's Safety Management System.

QUESTION:

What should be reported using the AEA SMS
Employee Hazard Identification Report?

ANSWER:

Generally, any item of concern or
recommendation an employee has and would like
to present to management. Many managers and
supervisors are busy, and they often forget casual
conversations during the course of the workday. The
Employee Hazard Identification Report, in essence,
assists by submitting an electronic memo to the
safety manager that highlights significant issues.
At a minimum, the following types of events
should be reported. This is not an all-inclusive list.
The form should be used when the employee wants
to identify hazards and/or process improvements.
* Near-miss events.
* Human factors issues.
* Communication concerns.
* Failure to adhere to established safety policies
and procedures.
* Failure to adhere to established maintenance
policies and procedures.
* Broken or inadequate equipment or procedures.
* Environmental concerns.
* Workplace hazards.
* Concerns raised by third-parties (customers,
tenants, visitors, etc.).
* Organizational process improvement.
* SMS process improvement.
Note: The AEA offers "Frequently Asked Questions" to
foster greater understanding of the aviation regulations
and the rules governing the industry. The AEA strives to
ensure FAQs are as accurate as possible at the time of
publication; however, rules change. Therefore information
received from an AEA FAQ should be verified before being
relied upon. This information is not meant to serve as
legal advice. If you have particular legal questions, they
should be directed to an attorney. The AEA disclaims any
warranty for the accuracy of the information provided.
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Avionics News July 2014

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