Kate Sarsfield/LONDON
Europe's commercial business aviation community is no stranger to regulation. A gauntlet of costly and often burdensome requirements faces operators that want to continue to fly in Europe's increasingly congested airspace.
Now the Joint Aviation Authorities has turned its attention to the sector of the business and general aviation (GA) community that is not covered by Joint Aviation Regulations (JARs). It is planning a new JAR that will blanket all aspects of GA outside commercial transport, including corporate aircraft, company flight departments and aerial work. The latter is internationally defined as "operations in which an aircraft is used for specialised services such as agriculture, construction photography, search and rescue, aerial advertising, etc".
The regulation, JAR-OPS-2, is in the hands of the JAA Operations Committee's Aerial Work and General Aviation Sub-Committee (AWGAS), drawn from a cross-section of the community, including operators, international aviation authorities and trade associations.
One problem for the aviation industry is that no-one knows as yet what will be in the new rule. Although the industry was prepared for the JAR-OPS-2 launch last year, the move has been greeted with caution by operators, many seeing further regulation as unnecessary. Wally Epton, AWGAS member and chief pilot at Ready Mix Concrete's UK-based flight department, notes: "There are satisfactory measures in place to ensure safe and effective operating practices. So we cannot see any purpose in introducing another level of regulation."
Epton's concerns are mirrored by operators throughout Europe, fearing that JAR-OPS-2 will either repeat, or be a watered-down version of, its strict JAR-OPS-1 stablemate, bringing with it rigid and costly mandates. Graham Forbes, head of the European Council of General Aviation Support (ECOGAS), which sits on the AWGAS committee, asks: "Will it add to the depth and cost of regulation? How will the differing existing regulations in the JAA member states be reconciled, and will there be any harmonisation with [US] Federal Aviation Administration Rules?" He adds: "Above all, will it affect that great benefit of corporate operations, flexibility?"
Extinguishing progress
Further regulation, the industry fears, could also extinguish the progress for which it has fought hard in Europe. The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), also a member of AWGAS, says: "Aircraft sales are up as more people switch to business aircraft to satisfy their travel needs. It is our duty to ensure that corporate operations are not stifled by the introduction of unnecessary regulation." Although in its infancy, the JAR-OPS-2 debate rages between those seeking full industry regulation - such as the UK Civil Aviation Authority, which believes that "it must be law to make it enforceable" - and those calling for a voluntary code.
The Brussels-based EBAA, which holds its annual convention from 4-6 April, believes the JAA should consider adopting the code of practice being drawn up by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), the umbrella organisation for nine worldwide business aircraft trade associations, including the EBAA and the US National Business Aviation Association.
"IBAC believes that, to harmonise business aircraft operations worldwide, it must develop a workable common baseline standard based on the best practices of the best companies [and also aligned with International Civil Aviation Organisation and International Standards Organisation guidelines]," the EBAA says.
Although only in its proof-of-concept stage, the IBAC code of practice will focus initially on aircraft operations, including charter and corporate flight departments, to determine whether the proposal is workable. Other areas of the industry, including maintenance and certification, will be developed later.
The IBAC findings will be presented to the industry in October, while AWGAS hopes to submit its first draft to the JAA by year-end.
Meanwhile, after four meetings, the challenge of integrating corporate and aerial work practices within a single requirement is becoming a reality. The UK CAA says: "We have to address the diverse requirements of corporate and aerial operators within their respective nations, covering everything from the moose round-ups in Finland to the corporate Airbus operator in the UK."
Operators across Europe are calling for a soft approach to JAR-OPS-2. Forbes says: "Whether such codes are formulated by industry or by the authorities has yet to be argued, but it is a golden opportunity to work together to keep business aviation flying."
Source: Flight International