GAMA Urges Blakey To Restore Aircraft Certification Staff

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association last week urged FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to restore staffing in the Aircraft Certification Service to 2004 levels. In a letter signed by GAMA President Pete Bunce and Jack Pelton, Cessna president and chief executive and GAMA chairman, the association expressed concern that FAA is considering diverting funds that Congress gave to the agency to add scores of inspectors to its staff.

In legislation enacted last year, Congress provided FAA with an additional $4 million for the Aircraft Certification Service and another $8 million for more Flight Standards inspectors than were sought in the Bush Administration's request. GAMA, alarmed because FAA had warned manufacturers that it planned to slow certification activities, worked with legislators to ensure that the certification and inspector work forces were adequately funded. A report accompanying the fiscal 2006 transportation appropriations bill further directed FAA to submit semiannual reports on how the funds were used, staffing levels, staffing goals, and the number of new hires.

But FAA officials this month quietly began warning that they may need to use the money to cover the $12 million shortfall in other areas of Flight Standards. A government-wide one percent budget cut leaves FAA with $12 million in unfunded mandates in Flight Standards, agency officials have said.