• Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935) and FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023 (S. 1939). Specific issues: 1. Enhance Aviation Rulemaking and Exemption Due Process by improving agency responsiveness to industry stakeholder petitions for rule changes and exemptions. 2. Require timely resolution of FAA investigations so stale letters of investigation sent to certificate holders do not hang as a cloud over their companies and careers for years. 3. Restore the right of repair stations to unilaterally surrender their certificates (as proposed in the PLANE Act 601) when businesses close, merge, etc. to improve due process given the lack of FAA procedures for accepting surrendered certificates. 4. Enhance international cooperation between the FAA and other CAAs by directing FAA to amend 14 CFR part 43 to allow the FAA to accept certificates/approvals issued by other CAAs if those CAAs accept FAA certificates pursuant to a bilateral aviation safety agreement. 5. Enhance access to maintenance data by directing FAA to task the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) to review current rules and policy related to instructions of continued airworthiness (ICA, aka maintenance manuals) and recommend guidance and/or regulatory changes to enhance ICA access for aircraft owners, maintainers, and others. 6. End misapplication of FAA guidance by confirming that unless a course of conduct is specifically prohibited by the regulations, the agency must allow it and by prohibiting the agency from enforcing guidance not supported by a specific law or regulation. 7. Limit reversal of agency approvals issued to a certificate holder without the express written consent of the executive director of FAAs Flight Standards Service and/or Aircraft Certification Service, as applicable, or their delegees. 8. Clarify supplemental type certificate requirements by tasking the agency to explain the differences between a major alteration that introduces a major change in type design under 14 CFR 21.113(b) and a major alteration that does not require an Supplemental Type Certificate. 9. Maintain current foreign repair station oversight regime by rejecting legislation to impose unnecessary, new mandates on U.S. aircraft operators and FAA certificated repair stations outside the United States, divert scarce FAA resources, and potentially subject U.S. facilities to foreign retaliation. 10. Expand and enhance the maintenance technician and pilot workforce development grant programs created by Sec. 625 of the 2018 FAA law by increasing funding to at least $20 million for each grant program and making changes to expand eligibility and improve implementation. 11. Improve the transition of military maintenance professionals to civil aviation by directing FAA to create a military competency examination similar to that for military pilots and to fast-track repairman certificate applications for individuals with military technical experience applicable to aviation maintenance (even those from non-aviation specialties) but insufficient to qualify for full mechanic certification. 12. Create a National Center for the Advancement of Aviation (as proposed in the 117th Congress in H.R. 3482) to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between aviation and aerospace stakeholders to support and promote civil and military aviation and aerospace careers. 13. Improve federal coordination and data collection by creating an interagency aviation workforce working group comprised of representatives from the FAA and Departments of Transportation, Labor, and Education to identify data gaps and ways to improve government data collection and analysis, including expanding FAA U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics as recommended by the Women in Aviation Advisory Board. 14. Reduce barriers to entry by directing a rulemaking to amend part 65 to allow mechanic certificate applicants to sit for the general knowledge test prior to meeting those experience requirements if they have completed the appropriate curriculum in conjunction with a high school program. 15. Improve the repair station certification process by better prioritizing applications and allowing the use of FAA designees (no bill number; proposed amendment). Enhance use of 529 educational savings accounts for aviation technical education (H.R. 1818). Encouraging effective implementation of proposed FAA drug and alcohol testing rules for foreign repair stations.
• Urge inclusion of language in the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to compel DOD to improve competition for maintenance on civilian derivative aircraft by more-readily accepting FAA approvals (e.g., Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) parts and Designated Engineering Representative (DER) repairs) and by improving access to the technical data required to maintain aircraft purchased by DOD.
• Urge creation of aviation maintenance apprenticeship program.

Duration: January 1, 2008 to present

General Issues: Aviation/Aircraft/Airlines, Defense, Education, Budget/Appropriations, Torts, Government Issues, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Small Business, Health Issues, Telecommunications, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Homeland Security

Spending: about $1,665,000 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2008: House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Labor - Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Transportation - Dept of (DOT), Air Force - Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Treasury - Dept of, State - Dept of (DOS), White House Office, Defense - Dept of (DOD), Commerce - Dept of (DOC), U.S. Senate,, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),, U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce - Dept of (DOC)