Kate Sarsfield/LONDON
The US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)has published safety and operational guidelines to owners and programme managers of fractional ownership schemes to "-enhance the safety culture" of this burgeoning market sector.
"The document is part of an evolution towards a culture of safety. It will be broadly disseminated to all business aircraft operators and will be a condition for membership," says the NBAA.
The 18-page document, developed in conjunction with the US National Air Transportation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, has been forwarded to Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Jane Garvey. "This document has been drawn following a public request from Garvey at October's NBAA convention. It is entirely up to her what she chooses to do with it," says aviation lawyer Kent Jackson.
The "Guidelines and Responsibilities" apply to "-programme managers providing fractional ownership programmes that manage at least two airworthy, powered, aircraft, equipped with one or more turbine engines or at least two internal combustion engines. Each aircraft must be substantially dedicated to the fractional ownership programme."
The guidelines include the creation of anonymous safety reporting procedures, the employment of at least three pilots per aircraft and acknowledgement by fractional owners of their operational control responsibilities. They also stipulate that operation of the aircraft will be private under US Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 91, unless otherwise agreed.
The publication comes in the middle of a two-year investigation by the FAA, which will determine whether fractional ownership should remain under current FAR Part 91 general aviation rules, or be brought under stricter Part 135 commercial aviation rules. The debate has been driven by two factors: the inability of the FAA's regional offices to find a general consensus on the operating status (Part 91 or Part 135) of fractional ownership, and the vehement opposition by members of the charter community to fractional ownership programmes continuing to be treated under general aviation rules.
Washington DC-based NBAA, which represents the interests of the US business aviation community and its fellow trade associations, declared publicly in October 1998 that the industry should continue to operate under Part 91, and should draw up its own code of conduct. Jackson agrees. "This perfectly illustrates how quickly and effectively the industry can pull together and create its own standards. It would take the FAA 10 years to come up with the same guidelines," he says.
The FAA, which was unavailable for comment, is expected to make a decision soon.
Source: Flight International
