Functional Organization Of Flight Standards Services - Case Study Example

Functional Organization Of Flight Standards Services Introduction The FAA or the Federal Aviation Administration is an agency which deals with transportation of the United States and have the authority to check and regulate all the aspects of civil aviation in the country. In 1959 The Federal Aviation Act helped in developing a group called the Federal Aviation Agency, which adopted its name in 1967 and became a part of the U.S Department of Transportation. Major Funtions of FAA The major functions of FAA include: 1. It regulates the United States commercial space transportaion. 2. It regulates the flight inspection standards and helps in improving navigation facilities. 3. One of its main function is to research and help in developing civil aeronautics and the National Airspace System. The Airmail Act of 1925 or the Kelly Act In 1925 the first major piece of legislation created by Congress affected the aviation industry. This Act allowed the awarding of government contracts to private carries, developed the rates for transporting mail and it set the air mail rates. Contracts were given by the American Postal Service, and contracts were given through a bidding process. But in this act there were many flaws. In 1920s airmail began crossing the country successfully and the railroad owners started complaining that this government supported enterprise was destroying their businesses. The railroad owners found a friendly ear in Congressman of Pennsylvania, who was the chairman of the Post Office Committee, which represented railroad interests. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Seventy percent of the stamp revenue received by the Post Offices was to be paid to the airmail carriers. The number of stamps needed depended on the weight of the mail and also on how many zones the mail had to cross. United States of America had been divided into three air zones in 1924. All the companies in the country analyzed that they are going to make more money if they carried heavier pieces of mails. As the rule was that they would receive the same money no matter how much distance they flew in a particular zone, all the companies preferred to fly shorter distances within a single zone in order to save operating costs. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Civil Aeronautics Authority and Civil Aeronautics Board In the year 1939, the Civil Aeronautics Act given federal responsibilities for private aviation to a new and independent agency which is called the Civil Aeronautics Authority. This law also gave the authority the power to regulate and control airline fares and to decide all the routes that air carriers will fly. In 1943, President Roosevelt splited this authority into two new agencies, one was the CAA or the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the other one was the CAB or the Civil Aeronautics Board. The main responsibility of the CAA was to control air traffic, to analyze safety issues and to regulate safety programs. It is also responsible for airway development. On the other hand the CAB was established for accident investigation, safety rule making and economic growth of all the airlines in the U.S. Both the organizations were related to the Department of Commerce, where the CAB functioned freely. The first major investigation of CAB started when a Douglas aircraft model DC-3A crashed near Washington DC in 1940. This investigation gave CAB experience to analyze and investigate all the safety issues related to the airline industry. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Federal Aviation Act of 1958 The Federal Aviation Agency formed an Act in 1958 which is called The Federal Aviation Act of 1958. This act helped the Federal Aviation Agency to regulate and oversee safety in the airline industry and the use of American airspace by civilian aircrafts as well as military aircrafts. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Deregulation Act of 1978 In 1978, the American government, through the CAB or the, regulated many areas of commercial aviation such as routes, schedules and fare. The Deregulation Act of 1978 removed many of these aspects, therefore changed the face of civil aviation in the country. After deregulation, a big competition ushered in a new era in terms of passenger air travel. The three main functions are: to limit the entry of air carriers, to award routes to airlines, and to regulate fares for passengers related to all the passengers. All the developed practices of commercial passenger travel within the U.S. went back even farther, to postmaster general in the early 1930s and 1940s in the time of President Hoover. The postmaster general had changed the payments systems related to mails to support the manufacture of passenger aircraft in place of particularly designed mail-carrying aircraft. The postmaster’s influence was vital in providing contracts and as a result created three major domestic airlines: United, American and TWA. Similarly, the postmaster had also supported Pan American airline to fly to many new international routes. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 Theses set of rules set the procedures which are related to the issuance of conveyance documents for lands under the jurisdiction of the Interior ministry to public sectors for use as airports and airways. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 The Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 and it includes airport development activities related to the getting the land for work involved to construct training area structure on or near the airport to provide live fire training drill for aircraft rescue and as well as firefighting personnel. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Commuter Safety Initiative of 1995 On december 17, 1995 FAR 135 ruled air carrier operations in planes having thirty or less seats and maximum payload of 7500 pounds, which included single and multi engine aricrafts. The FAR part 135 operation included commuter aricraft carriers. The carrier that operates both FAR parts 121 and 135 depends upon the size, seating capacity and the type of the aircraft. According to the commuter safety initiative all the aircrafts with ten or more seats must operate under FAR part 121. all the commuter operations with nine or less seats will operate under FAR part 135. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Aircraft With More Than 10 Seats For aircrafts having ten to nineteen seats have some extra equiptment so that the system should be functionally equivalent to the FAR part 121, that means passengers are not more than four feet away from the exit doors. In these aircrafts floor proximity lightning is not required. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Evolution of EPA In the December of 1971, EPA or the Environmental Protection Agency was established. It was an executive branch of government that worked independently. The purpose of establishing the EPA was to enable effective government action related to the environmental issues. EPA supports and coordinates antipollution research and activities by the local government and the state. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Before the EPA was established, there was no other single agency to deal with water, air and land pollution. This was the issue that was affecting every american’s daily life. The sources of air, water and land pollution are inter related to each other for example power station pollutes the air with chemicals and smoke, pollutes the land with solid wastes which can then pollutes the water. To address these sort of problems, different departments were integrated into one entity i.e. Environmental Protection Agency. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Occupational Safety and Health Administration On January 9, 1970 President Nixon signed the law which brought the existance of the OSHA or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which took effect on April 28th 1971. The purpose of forming OSHA was to ensure healthful and safe working conditions for working persons. This was achieved through implimentation of standards which developed under the Act. Its primary role is to assist states in their effort to ensure healthful and safe working conditions. It also provides research material and information in the field of occupational safety and health. The Act also establishes the regulatory body which enforce and promulgates the health regulations in the U.S. The Act also developed NIOSH or National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and OSHRC or Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. NIOSH is responsible for making recommendations for prevention of injury and disease which are related to work by conducting research. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Before the formation of OSHA, the issue of work related health and safety was in the hands of individual states. All the regulations were sporadic and they were ineffective for most of the part. The laws existed at that time were limited in scope and application. 1936 Public Contract Act is one of the example of this, which is also known as the Walsh-Healey Act and it was applied only to the contracts which exceeded the amount of US$ 10,000. One of the most notable case was the 1911 New York City’s triangle factory fire, in which 146 textile workers were killed and they could not escape because of the locked exit doors, which were locked to prevent theft. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Flight Standards Services The Flight Standards Service role is to promotes standards which makes air transportation safe, set standards for oversight of airmen and air operators. Functional Organization of Flight Standards Services The Fight Standards are carried out by work force of around 5000 workers. The regional flight standards divisions are responsible for managing the daily operational programs of Flight Standards Services through district offices. Section 601(b) of The FA Section 601(b) Act specifies in case, when enforcing regulations and standards at the time of issuing certificates. The Federal Aviation Administration must focus on duty of checking air carriers to perform their service with maximum safety in the public interest. The FAA believes that the all the air carrier certificate holders must provide public with highest degree of safety. According to Section 601(b) of The FA the responsibility lies directly in the hands of air carrier, irrespective of any action taken by FAA inspector. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) All the day-to-day inspections are performed by airlines, manufacturers and by airports and the system depends on self inspection, because it is not possible for Federal Aviation Admininistration to inspect all the planes in different locations around the globe. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) FAA Safety Inspection Program The Safety Inspection Program depends on the quality of the airline’s maintenance program and in case of oversight depends on inspectors of the Federal Aviation Administration. The current regulatory inspection program does not have flexibility to adapt dynamic industry environment. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Inspectors conduct maintainence and inspections priodically which focus on the airline’s records. For example, the records related to airline’s airworthiness directives are maintained to be inspected. Shop inspections are also conducted in such a way that all the inspectors observe the maintenance procedures. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Air Transportation Oversight System The ATOS or the Air Transportation Oversight System is Federal Aviation Administration’s newest approach to air carrier safety oversight. It is found that ATOS is technically sound because it is actually data-driven, and it targets inspector resources to the areas of highest risk, and it has given comprehensive solutions to the problems related to safety. But there is a small problem with the system. It is not reaching its full potential, and there are still many challenges for this system to be implemented completely. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to complete key element that are still developing. Particularly the processes for totally understanding ATOS inspection methods and making sure that the correct actions are implemented for the areas of danger especially when the plane is still in the air. Federal Aviation Administration also needs to train their inspectors to better understand the system and should train them to carry out ATOS by improving inspector training programs, and locating qualified inspectors where they are needed the most. The administration also needs to develop strong accountability and national oversight to ensure ATOS complete field implementation. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Rule Making of OSHA OSHA has eight directorate offices and its activities expand in ten different region across United States. Rule Making of EPA The Process EPA’s rule making is similar to the rule making of OSHA’s rule making. The EPA reviews all the comments and authorize to make changes and finally issues a final rule, and during its standard development process all its information partaining to the original proposal request for public comments. Primary Responsibilities of NTSB One of the primary responsibilies of the NTSB or the National Transportation Safety Board is to improve the standard of transportation safety, which it achieves by doing research and carring out investigations and then making safety recommendations. NTSB’s duty includes two funtions which are for the victims of any accident and the other is for their loved ones. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Independent Safety Board Act of 1974 The Independent Safety Board Act of 1974 empowers NTSB with the authority to conduct special studies on safety issues in order to maintain official United States census of accidents related to aviation and then evaluate the effectiveness of local government agencies which are involved in the investigation of transportation safety. It also evaluates the safeguards used in case of the transportation of dangerous material, such as hazardous materials review appeals from the airmen. It also looks into the certificates that have been revoked or suspended due to any reason. (Wells, & Rodrigues, 2003) Organizational Structure of NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board is actually a small government agency by all standards. Safety Board’s organization is composed of the following principal components: 1. Office of the Managing Director: Managing director helps the chairman as an administrative and executive head of the board. The director coordinates all the activities of the working staff and responsible for day to day operations of the board. He also develops and recommends plans to acquire the highest level of safety. 2. Office of Government, Public and Family Affairs: The purpose of this office is to give current information related to the work and objectives of the board to the general public. 3. Office of Safety Recommendations and Accomplishments: This office was formed in 1968. The National Transportation Safety Board has issued more than ten thousand safety recommendations which are related to all modes of transportation. References: Wells, Alexander, & Rodrigues, Clarence. (2003). Commercial aviation safety. McGraw-Hill Professional Read More