Simcom International CEO and General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) chair Eric Hinson stressed the importance of addressing “major challenges” the industry has faced on the oversight front through the upcoming FAA reauthorization bill. Speaking during GAMA's annual State of the Industry press conference yesterday, Hinson said, “The FAA has really, really struggled to provide timely and effective guidance and oversight to our industry.”

He said a key area where the industry is hoping to gain congressional support is in policy guidance and rulemaking. “The short way of describing this is basically a lot goes in and very little comes out of rulemaking policy and guidance. It just kind of goes into a black hole right now and it's very difficult for us as an industry to see where the process is breaking down.”

Another area of concern, he added, is the “fairly significant” exodus of experienced technical personnel at the FAA. He noted many have retired or were hired directly into the industry. “The fact is that it’s a pretty new workforce and it’s really important that that workforce be trained to understand the technology.”

Hinson also said a key part of this is fostering closer collaboration between the industry and the agency. In the past, the FAA and industry worked closely together to understand what is needed to forward technology. “We want to make sure that we get back to that kind of engagement with the FAA.”

GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce also stressed that the industry is global, making regulatory harmonization between the different regulatory authorities critical. “We have to continue emphasizing with the FAA the importance of making good use of the bilateral safety agreements between countries.”

Hinson further stressed the importance “that we have a regulatory authority that provides the correct safety guardrails, but at the same time allows for innovation in our industry.” He traced advancements made over the past 50 years and said it occurred “because we have a regulatory environment that allowed us to continue to develop and innovate in general aviation...We need to continue to have that kind of environment as we move forward.”

Bunce added that business and general aviation have been technology incubators with a greater number of research and development projects when compared to the fewer entities in the commercial market. Since 2015, the pace has been increasing, he said. “This is safety-enhancing technology, but also our efficiency is going up dramatically.”

He cited advanced structures, additive manufacturing, digital transformation, winglets, and new exhaust and mixing technologies as examples, and said all of these types of technologies are important to help the industry meet its 2050 net-zero goals.

“We absolutely have to streamline its regulatory process and get it back to where it functioned prior to this so that we can continue to build on the future with respect to saving sustainability,” Hinson said. “Sustainability is one of our [FAA reauthorization] asks, but we can't do that unless we fix that regulatory process. And, of course, we can't do any of it if we don't have the people in our workforce to do the job.”