...and Who Will Pay For It?

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is disappointed that a regulation implementing Domestic Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (DRVSM) has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and will be published in the Federal Register next week.

"While the association is not fundamentally opposed to DRVSM, we are gravely concerned that several NATA members face financial hardship if the FAA requires completion of costly aircraft upgrades in order to permit a January 2005 implementation," explained NATA president James K. Coyne.

The DRVSM rule was proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in May 2002. At that time, NATA raised concerns that the agency had not fully accounted for the costs of the rule to small businesses and that the actual number of small businesses impacted had not been identified. 

"NATA has done all that we can to ensure the FAA has followed proper rulemaking procedures in accordance with federal statutes, which require accurate analysis of the impact of their actions on small businesses. Unfortunately, we remain concerned that the FAA has not yet met the spirit or letter of their obligations to the regulated parties, in particular small Part 135 on-demand certificate holders," Coyne continued.

Coyne said that NATA staff will be conducting an in-depth review of the FAA's economic and small business conclusions. The final rule was placed on public display yesterday and is to be released in the Federal Register on Monday, October 27th.

FMI: www.nata-online.org