The Need For Standards
By Bobbi Thompson, Executive Vice President, Airport Business Solutions
September 2002
The FAA’s latest A.C., and why minimums can make a differenceOn June 10, 2002, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued Change 1 to Advisory Circular 150/5190-5 Exclusive Rights and Minimum Standards for Commercial Aeronautical Activities. Bobbi Thompson, actively involved in analysis of the A.C. and its revisions, reviews the changes and the overall reasons such standards are important.
Most
of the changes were in the general layout and additional information added
for clarification on a few important topics, as shown in the nearby chart.
Perhaps one of the most important messages
is the time and effort the FAA has spent in both the 2000 and 2002 Advisory
Circulars on this subject. The FAA highly recommends airport owners develop
fair and reasonable standards for the commercial operators on their airports
and that the documents are specific to their airport facility.
Minimum Standards Comparison
AC 150/5190-5
1. Not available on FAA website
2. Section 3: Proprietary Exclusive for aeronautical activities
with certain exemptions
3. Section C3-1; Land Use Identification Plan
4. Section C3-2; Airport Property Map
5. Section 3-e; Restrictions on Self-Service
6. Section 2-7
8. Section 2-7a
9. Section 2-8
10. No corresponding section
11. Appendix 1; Definitions
AC 150/5190-5 Change 1
1. Available at www.faa.gov
2. Corresponding Section 1-3; adds the ability of a corporation
to self-fuel its own aircraft
3. Omitted
4. Omitted
5. Note added; Commercial self-service fueling as defined in
the Appendix is not considered self-fueling (unmanned card reader
self-serve islands)
6. Section 2-2b (1) and (2) added; a sponsor may impose restrictions
on the manner in which an activity is conducted on an airport.
This type of restriction should be based on safety concerns
and may affect the runways or taxiways on which certain aircraft
types are allowed to operate, based on specified maximum gross
weight or wheel loading or operational efficiency. The sponsor
may also impose restrictions that apply to the general public.
FAA will make the final determination of the reasonableness
of an airport owner’s restriction.
8. Section 2-2c; Additional information added discussing the
importance of tailoring minimum standards to each individual
airport
9. Section 2-3; Through-the-Fence Operator, new language added;
discusses FAA concerns regarding this type of activity
10. Section 2-3b; Independent Operators. This addition addresses
a non-tenant wanting to provide commercial aeronautical services
on the airport
11. Appendix. Definitions added, including: Airport District
Office; commercial self-service fueling; independent operator;
proprietary exclusive.
The
recently released change does not make many alterations to the circular
issued in May of 2000; however, both documents encourage airport sponsors
to prepare tailored minimum standards. Refer to the associated table highlights
for specific changes.
Many airports struggle with the decision
on whether or not they need to spend staff time or select a consultant
to prepare a set of standards for their airport(s). While that decision
is dependent upon time constraints, staff ability, and finances available,
the decision to develop standards should not be ignored. There are multiple
reasons for establishing threshold requirements for all commercial aeronautical
providers. Here are just a few:
• Ensure that the Airport Sponsor is
in compliance with contractual Federal grant obligations.
• Compliance by the Sponsor with Advisory
Circular 150/5190-5 and Change 1, of which the portion on exclusive rights
is mandatory.
• Minimum standards establish the threshold
goal for services and quality of services, thereby providing a specified
level and quality of services to the public.
• Minimum standards protect aviation
business enterprises from unfair competition. Tenants who have expended
capital funds in developing their businesses are assured that competition
will be required to make similar investments.
• Minimum standards provide for equal
and fair treatment and prevent unjust discriminatory treatment to prospective
and existing tenants.
• Prospective commercial tenants have
available clearly stated requirements, which are uniformly enforced to
all similar commercial aeronautical enterprises — a level playing
field.
• Minimum standards protect the public
by requiring that each provider of aeronautical services is qualified
and certificated to provide the stated service and that each commercial
operator is insured.
• AC 159/5190-5 introduces the new
term for commercial aeronautical operators, providing a single service
to the public: Specialty Aviation Service Operators (SASO). Each set of
standards should define how SASOs can operate on your airports. This helps
to ensure that even a single service company has met certain minimum requirements.
Association efforts
Airport leases for commercial operators
should contain the requirement to comply with the airports minimum standards,
and as part of the lease the standards become mandatory and enforceable.
The American Association of Airport Executives
and the National Air Transportation Association are in the final process
of updating the guidance document originally created in the mid-80s entitled,
"Minimum Standards for Aeronautical Service Providers and Airport
Operating Rules and Regulations."
The finished document should be ready in
the fall of 2002; however this is a guidance document — not a fill-in-the-blank
minimum standard. This guidance document can be especially helpful to
low activity general aviation facilities. More complex airports with multiple
commercial operators need to have a more detailed process in order to
create standards that are functional, implemental, and logical to their
commercial aeronautical operators.
Creating a standard
The process of creating such a document
should include some involvement by industry professionals familiar with
successful procedures in development and implementation of standards at
airports similar to yours, tenant workshops, and a well-defined set of
project tasks and a timeline to ensure that you will achieve the stated
goals. Within your proposed project schedule, allow time for the FAA to
review the proposed document.
In the preparation of a minimum standards
document, do not forget to include scheduled reviews and updates. Having
a set time frame to review the standards will prevent the appearance of
changing your threshold requirements to help or prevent a new commercial
business from establishing a presence on the airport.
Make sure requirements are specific. Address
each type of commercial service being offered — and ones that may
be offered at a future time — and be sure to include minimum lease
sizes, personnel qualifications, certifications as appropriate, insurance
amounts, minimum equipment requirements, hours of operation, etc. Avoid
using vague terminology that makes enforcement a judgment call.
Words of caution
An area to absolutely avoid is the creation
of minimum standards to either prevent the entry of a new commercial operator
by having excessively high threshold requirements, or lowering the standards
for the benefit of a new entrant to the airport after current commercial
tenants have expended money and time to comply with a previous standard.
Both mistakes may cause you to be a recipient of a Part 16 filing, which
can suspend your ability to receive funding.
Another mistake that airports make is in
trying to make Minimum Standards and Rules and Regulations a single document.
While there is certainly an opportunity to work on both documents at the
same time, they are very different management tools.
Minimum standards set the threshold requirement
for commercial aeronautical service providers, whether they offer a single
service or they are a full-service FBO. Rules and regulations apply to
everyone that uses the airport and establish the acceptable conduct while
they are on your facility. Both documents protect the public and the airport
sponsor.
Since it is wise to involve tenants and/or
a representative group of tenants in the development process for both
documents, there are certain time and cost savings for working on both
documents at the same time, but do not lose focus of the separate distinctions
each document demands.