MARPA will be speaking with the FAA late next week about FAA oversight efforts. This is an opportunity for you – the PMA parts community – to influence the discussion in that meeting!
The FAA has implemented new tactics for providing oversight in order to help ensure aviation safety during Covid. This has included using remote technologies to accomplish oversight where those technologies seem to make sense. IT also includes FAA outreach to help ensure that the community understands the FAA’s efforts. The FAA has asked for feedback in order to better understand how their recovery and oversight efforts are working. Here are the expected meeting topics:
- Virtual evaluations and use of Remote Technology related to design and production systems:
- What’s working and what challenges are being experienced
- Identification of best practices and thoughts for process improvements
- Oversight scalability (risk based right sizing) and level of interaction between FAA and the regulated community
- Thoughts on what should be captured in future policy updates related to system approvals and oversight functions
- Training needs
- Outreach Activities:
- Value of additional PAH and ODA outreach activity, similar to previous efforts conducted early in the national health emergency (would more communication be useful?)
- Value and ideas related to ongoing industry communications on actions being taken to address operations in the COVID environment (how is the FAA doing on keeping you informed?)
- Training:
- Are training needs being met, and if not what areas need improvement?
- Consider both FAA employee needs and also industry needs as they may relate to training on the changing FAA methods
- Other Covid issues
- Are there other areas of need caused by the COVID environment that could be addressed by the FAA?
MARPA needs your input on how the FAA is doing during Covid
We would appreciate input on any or all of these topics from the PMA community. Send us a sentence or send us a manifesto … your choice. But this is a great opportunity to make sure that your voice is being heard by the people who set policy at the FAA.
The FAA ACO has been lagging in PMA approvals, we have been waiting on some approvals for over 6 months.
I work for a PMA company out of Ohio and we submit packages to Chicago ACO.
Posted by Mike Carabotta | January 29, 2021, 7:57 amThanks, Mike. I’d love to know more about the delays, and the causes of them. And I would be curious to know about the level of communication about the delays, and whether you feel that the FAA is keeping you in the loop on their internal timelines. If you click on the “contact” link at the top right of the page then it will show you all of the ways that you can contact us. Please call or email so we can talk further about the issues, and also about ideas for solutions/
Posted by Jason Dickstein | January 29, 2021, 12:16 pm