Thu, Jan 26, 2006
The ever-vigilant folks
at GAMA sent a letter to FAA Boss Marion Blakey, Wednesday the
25th, expressing concern about the FAA's lack of application for
millions of dollars that were authorized under the FY06
Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development
Appropriations Bill. The money was reportedly earmarked for the
specific purpose of bringing critical (and much needed) staffing
levels in AIR back to FY04 levels. Certification projects have been
slowed, which GAMA says, "severely impacts our ability to bring new
technologies into the marketplace and stay competitive." This is
serious stuff, folks, and GAMA appears to be right on top of
it.
We have attached the full text of their letter to the FAA,
below, for your inspection...
Dear Administrator Blakey
As you finalize spending plans for FY 2006, we wanted to
reiterate our strong support of additional funding made available
by Congress through Public Law 109-115, the Transportation,
Treasury, Housing and Urban Development the Judiciary, the District
of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006,
to restore staffing levels in the Aircraft Certification Service
(AIR) to the FY 2004 level.
It has come to our attention that the FAA may use these funds
for other purposes within the Office of Regulation and
Certification (AVS). This action would not only ignore
Congressional direction regarding these additional resources for
AIR but would also continue the negative trend we are seeing with
the slowing of new certification projects.
As we work closely with you to continuously improve the
certification process towards greater efficiency through
Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) and Certified Design
Organizations (COO), it is imperative that we restore staffing
levels in AIR necessary to support current activity levels.
Thank you your personal attention regarding this important
issue. Our combined efforts will enable our industry to continue to
bring new products and technologies to market to enhance safety and
maintain America's global leadership in aerospace.
Sincerely,
Jack J. Pelton
Chairman, GAMA Board of Directors
President & CEO, Cessna Aircraft Company |
Pete J. Bunce
President & CEO, GAMA |
More News
Improvements Stack as Brand Readies for Mass Production Samson Sky updated followers on its flying car progress, describing some of the travails of the wind tunnel as they get clos>[...]
LAHSO An acronym for “Land and Hold Short Operation.” These operations include landing and holding short of an intersecting runway, a taxiway, a predetermined point, or>[...]
Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]
Aero Linx: Space Medicine Association (SMA) The Space Medicine Branch was founded in 1951 as the first constituent organization of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). In 2006>[...]
Back-Taxi A term used by air traffic controllers to taxi an aircraft on the runway opposite to the traffic flow. The aircraft may be instructed to back-taxi to the beginning of the>[...]