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NATA Releases

Air Carrier Contract Maintenance Requirements

Regulatory Report

AIR CARRIER CONTRACT MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS

November 19, 2012

What’s at Issue
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Air Carrier Contract Maintenance, to require Part 135 operators with aircraft that are certificated for 10 or more passenger seats to revise their maintenance program when utilizing contracted maintenance providers.

Why It’s Important
The revised regulations will require affected Part 135 operators to develop and implement FAA-approved policies, procedures, methods and instructions for performing contract maintenance.  Operators will also need to ensure that the FAA is provided an up-to-date comprehensive list of all persons with whom they contract their maintenance and what work those facilities provide.

Major Provisions
The NPRM is in response to a congressional mandate to impose new rules for outsourced maintenance on Part 121 air carriers, but the FAA is electing to include Part 135 operators with aircraft having 10 or more passenger seats as well.

The FAA is proposing to create § 135.426, which will specifically address requirements for contract maintenance.  Proposed § 135.426 includes definitions for maintenance provider, covered work, directly in charge, and supervision and control.  These terms are used to define what functions are covered by the new requirements and the specific oversight responsibilities of the air carrier.  The certificate holder must establish policies and procedures to ensure that the maintenance performed by a contract maintenance provider is in accordance with the operator’s maintenance program and maintenance manual.

Operators must also provide a list that includes the name and address of each maintenance provider, as well as a description of the work that will be performed.  This list must be in a format acceptable to the FAA and carriers are required to update the list no later than the last day of each calendar month.

NATA Position
NATA is reviewing the NPRM and will develop comments in coordination with the NATA Air Charter and Aircraft Maintenance & Systems Technology committees.

Status
The NPRM was published on November 13, 2012.  Comments will be accepted until February 11, 2013.  Click

here to download the NPRM, which includes instructions for submitting comments.

 

Staff Contact: Collin Smith
Manager, Regulatory Affairs
csmith@nata.aero