While the U.S. Senate has yet to introduce its version of an FAA reauthorization bill, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, which includes Section 303 “Inspection of Foreign Repair Stations,” unchanged to address issues raised by European governments.
According to the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, problems with Section 303 include a requirement that all foreign repair stations be inspected twice a year “by FAA personnel and not representatives of foreign civil aviation authorities.” That will undermine the bilateral aviation safety agreement process, ARSA said, aside from the likelihood that the FAA will not get the funding necessary to pay for all those inspectors.
The drug-and-alcohol testing requirement, which mandates testing of safety-sensitive personnel at all foreign repair stations, also troubles the association. It not only would increase the cost of working with foreign repair stations, ARSA said, but it “oversteps the agency’s reach, infringing on the sovereignty of nations where foreign repair stations are based.”
The FAA should not be inspecting foreign repair stations unless the station pays the for the complete cost. These stations are being used to export jobs and complete the maintenance at a lower cost. No reason for the US taxpayer to fund these programs.