Aviation advocacy groups are closely monitoring the impacts of the government shutdown that began on Dec. 21, 2018.
According to officials with the National Business Aviation Association, the impacts of the government shutdown are “wide reaching and evolving as general aviation is a highly regulated industry.”
FAA
While critical FAA functions, including air traffic control services, safety oversight, and the FAA Registry, continue functioning, numerous activities at FAA are suspended.
FAA Registry
With passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, the FAA Registry in Oklahoma City has been deemed essential and will remain open during a government shutdown. During a shutdown, the registry should be able to continue operating as normal, NBAA officials note. This means that most aircraft registrations, renewals, and other critical registry functions will operate as normal.
However, the FAA Aeronautical Central Counsel office, which is involved in certain registry functions, would likely be subject to a government shutdown. This means that the office would not be able to give legal opinions on registrations involving non-citizen trusts or owner trusts.
Also, FAA legal opinions on certain LLCs, corporations, and other complex ownership structures would not be available during the shutdown.
Additional FAA Functions Impacted by The Shutdown
While numerous FAA functions would cease during a shutdown, the following activities that would be suspended are likely of most interest to the general aviation community:
- Issuance of airmen certificates
- Approval of exemptions for unmanned aerial systems operations
- Aviation rulemaking
- Development, operational testing, and evaluation of NextGen technologies
Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
CBP is affected only with overtime arrivals, much like what happened with sequestration, according to NBAA officials. Pilots should communicate directly with their port of entry to clarify any local port impacts on proposed arrival times, especially if the flight is scheduled to arrive after normal business hours.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
TSA is working normal business hours. This includes administrative functions needed to support TSA waiver applications and approval process that support foreign registered aircraft and the DCA Access Standard Security Program (DASSP). Additionally, the coordination needed with FAA for DCA slots remains operational.
This information will be updated on a special web page as NBAA continues to learn more about the impact of a potential partial shutdown starting on Dec. 21.
Much of what the FAA does is over regulation but get this: many are waiting for various permits and actions from the FAA which will not even begin to happen until the shutdown is over in order to continue to fly.
Also there is NO CRISIS on the border. It is all manufactured for political reasons. There have always been illegal entries across the Mexican but there are far FEWER than a few years ago. I live right on the border an know first hand what is happening. And stop blaming American drug habits on another country. Mexicans are no more responsible for opiate addiction that Canadians were for alcoholism when we had prohibition.
Illegal immigration is a cancer in American society! U.S. citizens are paying a horrible price. It MUST be halted and illegals expelled. Border security must be increased. Shut the door. Build the wall or fence or slats or whatever you want to call it. The situation cannot continue without remedy.
How many of you that are buying into this “crisis on the border” know anything about our southern border? At this moment I am 6 miles from Mexico where I have lived almost all my life on a ranch and there is no crisis. It is fear mongering to get votes. There are so many border patrol agents that they are almost standing on each other’s shoulders. A number of years ago a friend who owned a bar and restaurant one mile from the border was murdered in a robbery. Illegal aliens? No, three soldiers from nearby Ft. Huachuca. I have not heard of any murders by illegals.
And what about pilots that need Special Issuance medicals to keep flying? These already take too long and now much greater delay. Of course if these don’t effect YOU the shutdown is a non-event. A government shut down should not even exist; least of all to placate infantiles. This was never contemplated in the Constitution.
Couldn’t get SkewTlog charts to check cloud layers and tops due to the shutdown; had to scrub the flight. That’s a problem. Otherwise, I totally agree w Dan. Let’s get effective border security in place. Protect our borders from illegal entry. The nation is $20,000,000,000,000 in dept – can’t feed, house, give medical care , etc, etc, to the world anymore. House of cards that’s been created will come crashing down on our children one day. I can’t believe border security is even a debatable issue!
I love these government shutdowns. They have ZERO impact on most peoples lives and only serve to teach the public how useless most of the federal government is. Even what little impact it has would completely go away if we didn’t micro regulate everything under the sun.
I support the shutdown, as I support the SAFETY and INTEGRITY of this nation above all others, and despise the democrats wholesale abandonment of our nation in exchange for easy votes from illegal invaders. This is a power play by a disgusting political party refusing to do their job and protect THIS nation, strictly out of spite and opposition to the lawfully elected President.
Every new article I have seen says the FAA is not affected because its funding bill was passed several months ago and is in place it is not in the 30% of the government that is shut down that is only the unfunded portions of the government to the best of my knowledge
If the country doesn’t have boarders… the country doesn’t exist and no government is needed.
States already have governments… they can enter into treaties with other states, and those states can call themselves, the United States… they could even have representatives for the people and representatives for the states. This could even be called a congress, a government republic in nature. The several states could even have electoral votes to elect a person to lead the protection of the United States…
This leader selected through the electoral vote, could even decide how to best protect the United States..
Wait that is what we have now… never mind…
Re: Manny
The shutgown is not a “non event” if you work for the government, as hundreds of thousands of people do.
General aviation may not suffer much, but why should it suffer at all?
The shutdown is expensive in terms of lost productivity and unfair to those whose only demand is to go to work! Government employees (and services) should not be bargaining chips for whatever political end by either party.
Spoken like a true government leach.
Neither should the security and sovereignty of America be a political bargaining chip.
Good riddance to non-essential FAA functions. May it spread to that entire bureaucracy!
Preach!
How many people, how much money is the government spending to inform the media of the apocalyptic affects of the “Big Government Shutdown of 2018-19”?
Obviously not that big of a shutdown.
Only 25-30% is unfunded the rest was funded earlier this year, so the “shutdown” is essentially a non-event, contrary to the media and certain factions of government…uh…servants.
I have faith that most GA pilots will not be dissuaded by this fear-mongering talk about a “shut-down” The list of affected areas is a joke and most pilots are sharp enough to see right through it. I am a little disappointed that this website would present the article with such a negative tone. We need to get behind our president and those conservative voices that are calling for a wall and get it passed. Wake up people, the rest of the world is a dangerous place and our country is headed in the same direction. The liberals have a hidden agenda and it isn’t to make our country great, not even better. Lets weather this “shut-down” and get something done for the good of the nation. Like the president said the other day we can no longer afford to be totally “politically correct” Ask any serviceman that has spent any time overseas. They have all received a valuable education. Ours is still the safest, most desirable place to live. It won’t be much longer if we don’t stop the onslaught at our borders.
As a pilot you should be able to understand that walls are an insufficient means of preventing the movement of people. I am a serviceman who spent time overseas, and I can easily see that this country is amazing, and has always been great. I just don’t want to see taxpayer money wasted to establish a legacy for the worst person to ever sit in the Oval Office.
AMEN! He is horrible! I don’t think he’d even make it as a dictator….What are we waiting for?
You should be ashamed of yourself to call yourself a serviceman of this country. You served this country to help protect it! I was in the Navy for 26 years, now retired. This president has done more for our fellow servicemen than any other in the last 30 years. You hate Trump for no reason, other than he is Trump. Build the wall! Almost every other country in the world has a wall! Borders with security ARE what defines a country! COME HERE LEGALLY WITH OPEN ARMS!!!!
Obama left years ago, Wake up!! I sure hate how the economy is booming now, unemployment at it’s lowest, taxes are reduced, 401K’s climbing and would be higher if the Democrats would pack their bags and leave the country. Is this president perfect? No but where were you haters when the last guy was giving our hard earned money away to those that try to kill us? 56 billion in the middle of the night!!! What achievements did that guy have. ObamaCare which was a stunt to gain votes, cash for clunkers- that didn’t work, oh free cell phones. All this president wants is 5.6 billion to help secure the borders. It’s funny when the Democrats speak, it’s like they are looking in the mirror when they make the allegations. These issues continue to be kicked down the curb and there will be a point that we won’t have time to make a decision.President Trump like on many issues is tiered like true Americans of this procedure, so he is trying to resolve issues that presidents before him didn’t want to face. What every American should be saying is why take money from those people that actually go to work to produce. I think now and in the future, if our politicians can’t come together, sit down like adults and negotiate whats best for America. Than they should give up their pay until such time they can come to an agreement. That is what a government shutdown should look like and I’m sure it wouldn’t be shut down for long with those terms. As far as this being a fake issue, I don’t live down there but have dealt with several people in the area and they paint a different picture.
Amen!!!
An aviation safety, bloat-tation device.
Just maybe that indicates that the aviation industry needs to be a less regulated industry. I work for the USAF as a civilian engineer and let me tell you if the FAA is anything like the USAF everything will be significantly late, way over budget and with less features than originally stated. There are just too many people who have to sign off on everything and no real incentive to push things along.
Love the one about “legal opinions on registrations involving non-citizen trusts.” Also the “ongoing Nexgen evaluations.” See how the government tries to justify it’s lame existence? Wow.