On Dec. 5 at 12:00 p.m. EST, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association will host a webinar to encourage industry action in opposition to an anti-contract maintenance bill rushed through the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee on Nov. 20.
The bill could be considered by the full House before the end of the year, demanding immediate attention from the repair station community as well as suppliers, customers and business partners. The webinar will brief participants about the legislation, the political outlook and what to do to prevent this harmful bill from becoming law.
Space is limited, to register for the webinar to be held on Dec. 5 at 12:00 p.m.
Among other things, the Safe Aircraft Maintenance Standards Act (H.R. 5119) would:
- Impose burdensome new maintenance-related reporting requirements on air carriers.
- Ban the FAA from issuing or renewing repair station certificates in countries designated as Category 2 under the International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (and ban U.S. air carriers from using maintenance contractors in those countries).
- Require the FAA to directly certificate workers at foreign repair stations.
- Impose a moratorium on the issuance of new FAA repair station certificates outside the United States if the agency does not complete all the tasks directed by the bill and pending foreign repair station-related rulemakings within one year of the bill’s enactment (a laundry list so long the FAA will never meet the deadline).
House T&I Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced the bill on Nov. 15 and brought it up for a committee vote just five days later. No hearings were ever held to discuss the bill or committee concerns about repair station oversight. Given the “no huddle offense” strategy that Chairman DeFazio and his airline mechanic union allies employed to get the bill through committee, there’s a strong possibility they could try to get it to the House floor for a vote before the end of the year. Given that all T&I Committee Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favor, if it were taken up by the House today, it would likely pass.
If the bill becomes law, U.S. repair stations with foreign approvals and their employees would almost certainly be targets of the retaliation by foreign authorities. U.S. commercial and general aviation operations outside the country would be disrupted because of a shortage – or complete lack of – FAA certificated maintenance facilities in destination countries. And U.S. manufacturers seeking to provide product support in growing foreign markets would be prevented from obtaining FAA certification at those overseas facilities.
ARSA is leading a coalition of industry organizations and companies to oppose the bill. In addition to meeting with congressional offices to voice concerns and coordinating a letter in advance of last week’s committee vote, ARSA has developed additional materials to support our members’ and allies’ advocacy. With the specter of a House vote looming, time is of the essence. Your personal engagement is critical to stop H.R. 5119 from becoming law.
More information about the bill and what you can to do prevent it from becoming law is at www.arsa.org/hr5119.
To jump directly to registration for the Dec. 5 webinar, visit: http://arsa.org/webinar-registration/
