The ever-vigilant folks at GAMA sent a letter to FAA Boss Marion Blakey, Wednesday the 25th, expressing concern about the FAA's lack of application for millions of dollars that were authorized under the FY06 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill. The money was reportedly earmarked for the specific purpose of bringing critical (and much needed) staffing levels in AIR back to FY04 levels. Certification projects have been slowed, which GAMA says, "severely impacts our ability to bring new technologies into the marketplace and stay competitive." This is serious stuff, folks, and GAMA appears to be right on top of it.

We have attached the full text of their letter to the FAA, below, for your inspection...

Dear Administrator Blakey

As you finalize spending plans for FY 2006, we wanted to reiterate our strong support of additional funding made available by Congress through Public Law 109-115, the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006, to restore staffing levels in the Aircraft Certification Service (AIR) to the FY 2004 level.

It has come to our attention that the FAA may use these funds for other purposes within the Office of Regulation and Certification (AVS). This action would not only ignore Congressional direction regarding these additional resources for AIR but would also continue the negative trend we are seeing with the slowing of new certification projects.

As we work closely with you to continuously improve the certification process towards greater efficiency through Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) and Certified Design Organizations (COO), it is imperative that we restore staffing levels in AIR necessary to support current activity levels.

Thank you your personal attention regarding this important issue. Our combined efforts will enable our industry to continue to bring new products and technologies to market to enhance safety and maintain America's global leadership in aerospace.

Sincerely,

FMI: www.gama.aero, www.faa.gov