18^Th Annual JAA/FAA International Meeting

Geneva June 6, 2001

Report from the IFALDA Harmonization Working Group Team:  
By David Porter

Annual Harmonization Meeting

The JAA and FAA have met for 18 years annually in an attempt to harmonize the certification of aircraft, maintenance and repair standards, and in the last 7 years, operations and licensing issues.  Reflecting the increasing presence of non-JAA-FAA state authorities at the meetings as observers, particularly from the Asia-Pacific and African regions, the annual meeting will now be referred to as the Annual JAA/FAA International Conference.

JAA Transitions to EASA

The first topic discussed at the meeting was the transition of the Joint Aviation Authorities to the European Union sponsored EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency).  A major handicap of JAA has been that although referred to as an authority, it was really a standards organization and had no regulatory authority.  EASA, on the other hand, is sanctioned by the EU as a regulatory authority.   To this point, the U.S. FAA has only recognized JAA as the common voice for European regulation.  Starting in September,  FAA will work with EASA during the transition from JAA to EASA.  The transition should be complete by 2003 and the JAA will cease to exist.  EASA has advised that all Harmonization work completed by the JAA and FAA will be maintained.

Dispatcher Licensing Harmonization Proposal

IFALDA delegates were advised by the JAA and FAA co-chairs that the Dispatch Licensing proposal is alive and well and remains an open item.  IFALDA has been invited to make a presentation to the JAA Licensing Committee later this year in support of a JAA Dispatcher License.  This is an important step in future efforts to harmonize European and U.S. FAA Dispatcher certificates and licenses.

Dispatcher training and qualification JAR Ops 1

Mr. Otto Kubin, JAA Operations Committee, has advised the IFALDA delegation that the proposal to include Flight Dispatcher training and qualification requirements has passed through the JAA Ops Committee and will go before the JAAC (JAA Committee) later this month.  Mr. Kubin advises that this is not a controversial issue and should be approved by the JAAC without difficulty.

After approval by JAAC the proposal goes out as an NPA (Notice of Proposed Amendment) that is similar to the U.S. NPRM process.  It will be available for public comment for about 2 months after which it will go back to the JAAC for possible editing and change to incorporate appropriate comments received from the public.  It is anticipated that it will be ready for submission to the EU by December 31, 2001.  Once approved by the EU, the proposal will be incorporated into JAR OPS-1.

Rewrite of ICAO Annex 6

During the Operations Workshop session, the JAA/FAA Operations Committee advised that they were planning to approach ICAO with the intention of amending certain sections of ICAO Annex 6.  While no specific sections dealing with operational control or dispatch were mentioned as candidates for amendment, at the suggestion of the ICAO observer at the Conference, IFALDA will petition the ICAO Ops Panel for inclusion in any working group effort to amend Annex 6.

ETOPS

It was suggested by the Harmonization Ops Committee that IFALDA participate in future ETOPS working groups particularly through the ICAO Air Navigation Committee.  Dispatcher involvement in ETOPS is deeply ingrained in ICAO Annex 6, which JAA has indicated that they support.

MMEL

The harmonization of the MMEL is a current issue.  While currently the focus is on aircraft manufacturers, IFALDA has been advised that they should be involved in the operational development of future MMEL issues, particularly Very Large Transports such as the Airbus A380.

Fractional Ownership

There is an U.S. NPRM about to hit the street regarding Fractional Ownership of aircraft.  This is an extremely complicated issue that involves collective ownership of aircraft by both the business community as well as air carriers.  It cuts across U.S. FAR Part 135, Part 91, and Part 121 regulations and leaves many rules open for interpretation.  The U.S. FAA has indicated that the exercise of operational control is the single most important (and controversial) issue.  The NPRM will outline the FAA’s view on the appropriate rules that should govern fractional ownership operational control issues.  Once this NPRM is published, it is vital that all IFALDA members (both U.S. and foreign) read it and understand it.  It is also appropriate (and within US law) for anyone in the public domain to comment on NPRMs.

Attending and participating:

Brad Rasmussen – IFALDA Director Regulatory and Harmonization
Bjarne Solvang – VP Eufalda
Jan Hoehne – IFALDA Director European Regulatory Affairs
David Porter- IFALDA Director Government and Industry Affairs