On May 15, 2010 a bipartisan group of 65 House members delivered a letter to House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) leadership in support of the Senate’s foreign repair station language as the chambers meet to reconcile differences between the House and Senate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bills.

Several ARSA members weighed-in with their House members to join the effort led by Rep. John Barrow (D-GA). Barrow wrote a similar letter last spring.

Both the House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills contain provisions that single out the aviation maintenance industry. The House-passed legislation dramatically alters requirements for FAA’s oversight of foreign repair stations, which will result in retaliatory measures by key trading partners (including the European Union (EU)), and the collapse of bilateral agreements designed to facilitate aviation safety and commerce.

If the House foreign repair station provision were to become law, aviation maintenance companies that operate internationally would see a dramatic increase in regulatory oversights costs, which would make it more difficult to survive and compete. Parallel language in the Senate-passed FAA reauthorization legislation exempts repair stations in countries with which the U.S. has bilateral aviation safety agreements from the overly burdensome and impractical requirements of the House bill.

While ARSA remains deeply concerned that Congress is arbitrarily targeting the aviation maintenance industry, when compared to the House bill, the Senate legislation is more respectful of international agreements and will allow our industry to continue to build upon our nation’s $2.4 billion positive balance of trade in the aviation maintenance sector without retaliation by our key trading partners.

Click here to view the full text of the latest Barrow letter.

Click here to send a note to your lawmakers urging them to protect the aviation maintenance industry as the FAA reauthorization process continues.

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