No further major changes to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) regulations are expected within the near future, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and harmonisation of MRO regulations with European and Canadian regulatory agencies continues.
"I haven't noticed any 'new' regulations coming through the Federal Register on Part 33," said Sarah MacLeod, director of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, an industry group. "I know that we have spent a lot of time 'harmonising' our regulations with the Europeans and Transport Canada."
Some noise regulation may change, says Gil DeCosta, the FAA's Boston Aircraft Evaluation Group manager. "I think they're going to look at some of the noise and footprints of FAA Part 36...but it's true, there's nothing in the pipeline as far as a new certification regulation."
An international maintenance review board serves as a coordination and exchange mechanism for maintenance regulation practices.
"We are the 900lb gorilla, but we're losing weight. It's a big world, and everyone is smart...We're all pushing for the same objectives, the same goals."
In addition to harmonizing approaches to new aircraft, equipment and capabilities, the international bodies are "also looking at some of the older stuff," says DeCosta. "[Like] what happens when someone wants to put an old piece of equipment into an airlineso we're making sure that programmes are in sync."
Some new regulations may be incoming for parts manufacturer approved (PMA) parts, which are FAA-approved parts manufactured by someone other than the original equipment manufacturer. The FAA's 2009 repair, alteration and fabrication team (RAFT) report allowed that PMA parts were essentially the same as the originals.
"Now of course some type certificate (TC) holders vehemently disagreed with that, and we continue to have internal wranglings both in the industry and the FAA," says McLeod. "So some of this 'new guidance' and policy is as a result of that consternation."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
