Unpuzzling The Regs Put Forth by The Washington Puzzle Palaces

Produced just before the FAA had a sudden and unexpected moment of good sense and killed off the current NPRM covering an aggressive Repair Station regs, AEA's Ric Peri held forth on a number of ponderous topics... Part 145 included. While the withdrawal plays into the sentiments expressed by much of the avionics industry, there remains a lot of turmoil over the future of the FAA's regulatory interface with Maintenance operations.

With some 4000 repair Stations around the globe under the FAA's supervision and the cost/complexities of their operations showing NO signs of slowing, any new regulatory input is a serious topic, indeed.

There are a number of permutations to the concerns about Part 145 Operations and we suppose it wasn';t going to be long before the TSA stuck its nose into the International certification issues affecting FAA certified Repair Stations operating outside the US. Their interest and potential effect is like the Sword of Damocles for many... who worry that TSA's overt over-reaction and subsequent over-regulation may come to haunt them as well... We can certainly understand THOSE concerns.

Ric also discussed Field Approvals... which once "flowed like water," but now, in an era where the FAA staff is over-taxed and under-staffed, they're much harder to come by. Field Approvals are now being worked on a "priority" basis and GA is finding itself, increasingly, nowhere near the top of the list. Still, Ric sees the situation improving for a number of reasons... listen to what he says and see if you don't agree with his guarded optimism...

Ric Peri is AEA's Vice President Of Government & Industry Affairs and an astute observer of the Washington regulatory scene. The Aircraft Electronics Association represents more than 1,300 aviation businesses, including repair stations that specialize in maintenance, repair and installation of avionics and electronic systems in general aviation aircraft. AEA membership also includes instruments facilities, manufacturers of avionics equipment, instrument manufacturers, airframe manufacturers, test equipment manufacturers, major distributors, and educational institutions.

AEA's Ric Peri Updates Aero-TV On The Current Aero-Electronic Regulatory Environment!

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