Washington, DC — The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today praised the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee for introducing a bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill that reforms the process for certifying general aviation aircraft products in the U.S. and addresses other regulatory barriers on manufacturing and maintenance organizations.
“We applaud the Senate and thank Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for including provisions addressing the broader certification and regulatory changes needed to improve safety, provide more consistency in regulatory interpretation, and keep the U.S. aviation industry competitive in the global economy,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce.
The reforms could be implemented quickly to address market and regulatory challenges the industry faces, resulting in a more efficient use of industry and FAA resources, and ensuring general aviation manufacturers can create more jobs and get their products to market quicker. Twenty-seven members of the Senate, led by Senators Blunt, Cantwell, Moran (R-KS), Klobuchar (D-MN), Gardner (R-CO), and Peters (D-MI), recently wrote Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson urging inclusion of these significant reforms in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill.
“We appreciate their strong support in making this a reality, and we also appreciate the broad support for certification reform in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Bunce. “We thank the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s bipartisan leadership for inclusion of the certification reform title in the bill Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) introduced yesterday.”
The House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills show the strong agreement that exists in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle for these much-needed and well-crafted reforms. GAMA hopes the Senate proceeds quickly to a vote on the legislation and that Congress passes these important reforms, which have already been held up too long by discussions about air traffic control privatization, including the proposal for a risky transition to a new, non-government entity for which only untested assertions about rewards or results can be made.
“There is no guarantee this new entity could run the safest, busiest, most technically advanced and most complex airspace in the world, while simultaneously increasing the pace and impact of modernization, accommodating new civil entrants such as commercial space and unmanned and autonomous flying vehicles, while assuring the American people that this proposed new entity will serve the public interest,” said Bunce.
He continued, “We can make targeted improvements that create predictable and stable funding for the FAA, including biennial budgeting, consolidating unneeded and outdated facilities, procurement, certification reforms and putting to use some of the balance from the Airways and Airport Trust Fund to expedite technology deployment. As we said in the joint statement we issued yesterday with other general aviation associations, we are ready and willing to work with all industry stakeholders and the U.S. Congress to advance the consensus needed to improve our current system.”
