WASHINGTON – The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) issued the following statement in response to recent congressional action on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee marked up and passed its bill on June 27 and the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation did the same on June 29.
Both bills were amended to include provisions important to the aviation maintenance industry. The House and Senate committees adopted amendments sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) to add aviation maintenance to the list of stakeholders that will participate on the FAA’s new Certification & Oversight Advisory Committee. The House T&I Committee adopted an amendment offered by Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) to request a Government Accountability Office report on the aviation technician shortage. The Senate Commerce Committee also adopted amendments offered by Sen. Inhofe to restore the right of repair stations to voluntarily surrender their certificates and explore making repairman certificates issued to mechanics portable from one employer to another.
“ARSA is very pleased by the significant progress that both the House and Senate made this past week on the FAA reauthorization front,” ARSA Executive Vice President Christian A. Klein said. “Reauthorization represents an important opportunity to make America’s aviation system more efficient, build upon the industry’s outstanding safety record and increase economic activity in our sector. Both the House and Senate bills go a long way towards achieving those goals, particularly by improving the certification process and encouraging international cooperation between the FAA and other civil aviation authorities.
“We especially appreciate Sen. Inhofe’s leadership in offering several amendments to the Senate bill to address the aviation maintenance industry skilled worker shortage and improve the regulatory environment for repair stations and we thank Reps. Hank Johnson, Cheri Bustos, Rob Woodall, Bruce Westerman, and Brenda Lawrence for offering aviation maintenance-related provisions in the House.”
In order to get a perspective from Sen. Inhofe’s aviation-rich home state, Klein reached out to J. Terrell Siegfried, J. Terrell Siegfried, assistant general counsel & corporate secretary of NORDAM, an industry-leading aviation maintenance company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and ARSA member. Siegfried said:
“In proposing these amendments, Sen. Inhofe has once again demonstrated he is a true champion for the aviation maintenance industry, which employs close to 12,000 Oklahomans and 277,000 people nationwide. Oklahoma’s repair stations are fortunate to have a leader like Sen. Inhofe in Washington, D.C. looking out for their interests.”
ARSA is the only association devoted to the unique needs of the global civil aviation maintenance industry. It is dedicated to helping member companies operate more efficiently and effectively, while continuing to ensure the safety of aircraft worldwide. To learn more about the association’s work on behalf of both industry stakeholders and the flying public, please visit ARSA.org.
