NBAA Supports NPRM To Ease RVSM Maintenance Program Approval | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Sat, May 30, 2015

NBAA Supports NPRM To Ease RVSM Maintenance Program Approval

Follows Industry-Agency Effort To Streamline Requirements

The NBAA says it welcomes a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would eliminate a costly and time-consuming requirement for operators to develop and submit a separate maintenance program for equipment required to operate in reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) airspace (at altitudes between FL290 and FL410).

The NPRM follows a joint industry-agency effort between NBAA and the FAA to streamline requirements for business aviation operators seeking RVSM approvals.

Currently, FAR Part 91 operators seeking RVSM approval must develop, and submit to their local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), a separate maintenance program for RVSM-related equipment in addition to other aircraft maintenance requirements. However, the proliferation and acceptance of RVSM-related equipment on board business aircraft have made that requirement a costly and time-consuming redundancy for both operators and FSDO inspectors.

"RVSM was brand new when the initial rule was implemented in 2005, and the FAA initially took a deliberately cautious approach toward maintaining this critical – and, at the time, largely unfamiliar – equipment,” said Mark Larsen, NBAA senior manager of safety and flight operations. "Today, RVSM is an integral and recognized aspect of aircraft systems, with required maintenance on this equipment covered by other approved regular-maintenance programs and regulations.”

As early as 2008, NBAA met with FAA representatives to determine ways to streamline the RVSM application process and to lower operators’ burden to obtain authorization. Those meetings led to the formation of the RVSM Process Enhancement Team (PET) in 2012 to review existing authorization policies and guidance, and make recommendations outside the formal rulemaking process to streamline RVSM approval requirements where appropriate. These efforts culminated in the January 2014 release of enhanced RVSM authorization approval guidance for FAA inspectors. Learn more about these changes to RVSM approvals.

"We never formally asked the FAA to remove the maintenance program approval requirement because the FAA told us at the beginning of the PET's work that rulemaking would not be possible at that time," said David Norton, an aviation attorney with Shackelford, Melton, McKinley & Norton, LLP and industry co-chair on the RVSM PET. "However, the FAA realized over the course of our discussions that this requirement had become redundant, and that idea continued to percolate over time. It now has come to fruition in conjunction with the PET's continuing work on amending Advisory Circular 91-85 to be consistent with the updated guidance issued in January 2014."

The FAA estimates that the eased requirement would save operators approximately $14.1 million in the first year following adoption of the rule, based on a published cost of $5,000 for operators to submit an RVSM maintenance program for FAA approval. It would also free up 33,852 hours of FAA safety inspectors’ time, according to the NPRM.

"We encourage our Members to comment favorably on this NPRM, as it is truly a beneficial change that eases requirements for operators while maintaining safety throughout RVSM airspace," said Larsen.

FMI: NPRM

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Capella Aircraft Corp FW1C50

Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Timber Tiger Touts Curtiss Jenny Replicas

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.04.25): Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO]

Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC