Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) Executive Vice President Christian A. Klein issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s Nov. 20 passage of the Safe Aircraft Maintenance Standards Act (H.R. 5119), a bill introduced on Nov. 15 by T&I Chairman Peter DeFazio. On Nov. 16, a coalition of eleven leading aviation associations led by ARSA sent a letter to House T&I members opposing the bill.Chairman DeFazio’s repair station bill is policymaking at its worst. Aviation laws and regulations must be based on facts with safety as the overarching goal. In stark contrast, H.R. 5119 is a political bill that will disrupt international travel. Its surprise unveiling and rapid passage through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee tell the whole story: It was introduced late last week and passed in five days without any hearings or opportunity for industry to comment.
The legislation will disrupt U.S. air carrier and general aviation operations, undermine global aviation regulatory cooperation, add to the burden of regulators without providing new resources, subject U.S. aviation maintenance companies and their employees to foreign retaliation and make it more difficult for U.S. manufacturers and repair stations to service a global customer base.
