The issue of FAA delays in approving letters of authorization (LOAs) for operations such as RVSM continues to fester. At this month’s NBAA Convention, the FAA’s Roger Sultan will join attorney David Norton of Shackelford, Melton, McKinley & Norton to help pilots and aircraft operators understand the LOA process, learn how recent changes might accelerate LOA approvals and give feedback about their experiences obtaining LOAs.
AIN continues to receive complaints from operators about how long the LOA approval process takes. One such complaint came from the owner-pilot of a turboprop who upgraded this year to a new version of the airplane. Because he had been operating under an LOA from his previous airplane, he thought that the LOA for the new airplane would be a routine and quick change, especially because the manufacturer of the turboprop wrote the RVSM manual, and this manual formed the basis for his earlier LOA.