It's The Only Way To Protect The Runway

NBAA filed comments Friday in support of a proposed FAA policy on weight-based airport access restrictions. "It is vital that the FAA require airports to use legitimate weight-based restrictions only as a legitimate means of protecting airfield pavement, not to mitigate noise concerns by side-stepping the Part 150/161 airport noise process," said Shelley A. Longmuir, NBAA president. "If unchecked, the proliferation of such weight-based restrictions by airports could potentially extend to include smaller, lighter aircraft, for no good purpose."

Adoption by the FAA of the proposed policy potentially affects large aircraft operators, including those with MGTOWs exceeding 100,000 lbs., at all airports with existing or contemplated restrictions, most notably at Teterboro Airport (NJ). Adoption of this policy would guide airport proprietors regarding Federal access regulation.

While the proposed policy recognizes that in rare instances some restrictions might be necessary as a last resort, it also recognizes that the problem must be based on present load-bearing capacity. In comments filed supporting the FAA's proposed policy, Longmuir pointed out that present load-bearing capacity must include recognition of the equivalent single-wheel load standard long used by the FAA. NBAA also pointed out that if access to an airport must be limited because of demonstrated, weight-bearing considerations, any process for allocating access must be transparent and non-discriminatory.

The FAA is expected to publish the final policy later this year.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.nbaa.org