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Government shutdown update: pre-owned fine but problems with new aircraft deliveries

Government shutdown update: pre-owned fine but problems with new aircraft deliveries

NAFA member Alasdair Whyte, Editor and Co-Founder of Corporate Jet Investor, shares government shutdown update and how it affects new aircraft deliveries.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has resolved a technical issue stopping new title searches.

The Registry Modernization System (RMS) in Kansas City stopped working on Friday evening but was restored within a few hours. 

This is great news and means that pre-owned aircraft transactions can be completed again.

However, there are big issues getting Certificates of Airworthiness (CofA) for new aircraft. Right now, the Designated Airworthiness Representatives (DARs) have blanket authority to act independently, which resolved the issue on used aircraft CofAs.

But the Aircraft Certification Offices are still closed, so no new aircraft can be certified, which is required before the DAR can issue the CofA.

Part of the issue is that the FAA systems themselves are very old and prone to frequently breaking. IT staff at the Kansas City facility where the FAA mainframe is located, have also been furloughed.

No reasons were given for the RMS outage. NAFA, the National Aircraft Finance Association, said in a release that inclement weather in Kansas City could have played a role in the outage.

One lawyer suggested that the FAA might not even know themselves how the issue was fixed “They probably sent somebody back in the back and they slapped it a couple times.” He said.

The FAA said: “Due to the lapse in government funding, we are unable to respond to media questions at this time."

This article was originally published by Corporate Jet Investor on January 16, 2019.


 January 18, 2019