The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) has launched a survey to measure the impact of the ban on new foreign repair station certificates. Congress prohibited the FAA from acting on foreign repair station certificate applications submitted after Aug. 3, 2008, because the TSA had not finalized repair station security rules.
“In an effort to force the TSA to do its bidding, Congress passed legislation banning the FAA from issuing new foreign repair station certificates. It means a repair station located outside of the U.S. cannot be certified regardless of who owns it, even if it’s a U.S.-based OEM. This can have a significant impact on U.S. companies trying to open new international markets,” ARSA executive director Sarah MacLeod, told AIN. “You may be a protectionist and not like the idea of foreign repair stations being allowed to work on U.S. aircraft, but the real issue is that Congress has penalized an entire industry for the TSA’s failure to do what Congress ordered it to do. Why punish us? Shouldn’t they be punishing the TSA instead?”
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