Comments Filed In Proposed Rulemaking For Safety Management Systems, Safety Enhancements For Part 139, Certificated Airports

Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) submitted comments Tuesday in response to the FAA's Proposed Rule, “Safety Management Systems (SMS) for Certified Airports” and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Safety Enhancements Part 139, Certification of Airports.

Gregory Principato

As a result of serious technical concerns about the Proposed Rule, ACI-NA has urged the FAA to withdraw the Proposed Rule at this time and instead focus its efforts on the following:

• Developing a more serious and defensible regulatory analysis;
• Completing the third airport SMS pilot study;
• Completing and refining its revision to airport SMS implementation guidance and advisory circulars that detail how the Rule would need to be implemented;
• Seeking legislative action at the federal and state levels to provide needed data and liability protections; and
• Working out the details regarding how airport SMSs will function effectively with the SMSs developed by the other FAA lines of business. Once these actions are completed, a more effective airport SMS rule can be developed.

“U.S. airports have an enviable safety record and are part of one of the safest aviation systems in the world,” said ACI-NA President Greg Principato. "Nevertheless, our members have striven to continuously improve the safety of their facilities. It is critical that safety and security dollars be well spent. FAA must fully address the concerns of U.S. airports before taking any further action on this rulemaking."

ACI-NA also provided additional comments on the proposal for “Safety Enhancements Part 139, Certification of Airports”. The organization originally submitted comments regarding the Proposed Rule on May 13, 2011. Since that date, the FAA published the Initial Regulatory Evaluation (IRE) of the Proposed Rule to the docket on May 26, 2011 and reopened the comment period associated with the Proposed Rule. ACI-NA stated in its comments that after fully reviewing the IRE, airports remain concerned that the FAA is proposing to implement costly and time-consuming requirements on airport operators without providing any tangible evidence that these requirements will enhance airport safety.

It is ACI-NA’s recommendation that before issuing a final version of the Proposed Rule, the FAA redo its regulatory evaluation utilizing both empirical data and industry-accepted analytical techniques.

FMI: www.aci-na.org