The task force established by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) to deal with the issue of regulating fractional ownership expects to issue new proposals by next month. The task force has indicated that it is working toward “an accommodation” with the FAA, but has warned that European rules will not necessarily “mirror” the FAA’s Part 91 Subpart K regime. Fractional ownership operations in Europe–such as those of the NetJets Europe program–are currently required to be conducted under the commercial JAR-OPS 1 rules.
Last month, Glenn Cronin, a UK Civil Aviation Authority official appointed to the ECAC task force, told the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) Forum at London Biggin Hill Airport that he and his colleagues still have significant reservations about accepting Part 91 Subpart K and warned that it is by no means certain that a compromise can be reached. He said that ECAC officials now accept that Subpart K operators are safe, but added that there are economic and security issues that prevent them from accepting the FAA’s specially created subclass of private aircraft operators.
