MARPA Refutes CFM International's Inflammatory Claims That Competitors Replacement Aircraft Products Are Inferior

The Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA), along with the Air Transport Association (ATA) urged the President of CFM International (CFM), Eric Bachelet to withdraw potentially false and misleading statements from its marketing efforts, because those statements undermine FAA safety findings that have been supported by strong engineering data.

Recent advertisements in industry publications and on the CFM website erroneously allege that replacement aircraft parts manufactured by CFMs competitors do not perform “as good as the original” and misleadingly suggest that they are not as reliable as CFM parts.

These advertisements target competitive products that are manufactured under approvals issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), known as Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA). The FAA has found that the PMA parts meet the same airworthiness standards that the CFM parts meet.

A FAA PMA represents FAA approval of both the design and the production quality system for modification or replacement aircraft parts. According to the FAA website – “The design approval phase of PMA certifies that a replacement or modification part complies with the airworthiness standards of eligible products (aircraft, engine or propeller)”. Compliance with the airworthiness standards is demonstrated “through tests and computations unless the part is identical to the part design on a type-certificated product. Identicality means that a part is the same in all respects to a part design in a type-certificated product. Evidence of license agreement shows this identicality.”

CFM's statements call into question the airworthiness of PMA products, consequently undermining confidence in the airworthiness approval processes used by the FAA for all aircraft parts.

In the letter to CFM, MARPA and ATA stressed their commitment to increasing aviation safety and their willingness to discuss ways to cooperate with CFM to promote ongoing safety improvements.

MARPA is a Washington, DC based non-profit trade association representing a diverse group of companies all dedicated to excellence in producing aircraft parts. As the only major trade group exclusively representing the PMA industry, MARPA represents the interests of PMA manufacturers; works with the FAA help improve aviation safety and policy and supports its members to promote excellence in production standards for PMA parts.

MARPA and its member companies are committed to improving aviation safety. They have utilized the experience of the association’s membership and worked closely with the FAA to develop guidance for a Continued Operational Safety (COS) program. The MARPA COS guidance material focuses on key quality elements – Problem Prevention, Part Monitoring and Proactive Response to Identified Future Risks – to help strengthen the industry’s efforts to ensure the highest level of safety for the flying public.

Jason Dickstein is the President of MARPA and was one of the founding members of MARPA. He is a Washington, DC attorney specializing in aviation law. Additionally, Mr. Dickstein serves as General Counsel to the Aircraft Electronics Association, the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, and as General Counsel and Secretary for the Aviation Suppliers Association. He is a regular contributor to several industry publications and is in demand as a speaker around the world. This past April he gave the Keynote Presentation at the 10th Annual Gorham PMA Conference.