Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

A group of aviation organizations and businesses are asking the U.S. FAA to clarify the applicability of drug and alcohol testing requirements to workers who are involved in receiving items for stock. Sixteen organizations wrote the FAA on February 15 for a legal interpretation after reports surfaced that some FAA auditors viewed receiving responsibilities as safety-sensitive functions and thus covered under drug and alcohol testing requirements.


“A receiving process simply verifies that incoming parts or materials are what they purport to be and that there are no obvious reasons to question a previous determination of airworthiness,” said the letter, which was signed by organizations such as the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, National Air Transportation Association and General Aviation Manufacturers Association, as well as companies such as Honeywell and Gulfstream.


The letter adds that receiving activities do not require the creation of a maintenance record. “Therefore, they are not safety-sensitive functions under [the drug and alcohol testing requirements of 14 CFR] Part 120.” Historically, agency guidance has not included either distributing or receiving parts in maintenance or preventive maintenance duties, the organizations agreed.


But the letter noted auditors who “have informally opined that personnel conducting tasks associated solely with receiving items for stock are performing maintenance and are therefore engaged in safety-sensitive functions,” and added, “This expansive interpretation would result in the misclassification of employees, thereby diluting random testing pools with non-safety-sensitive personnel.”

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Industry Asks FAA To Clear Up Drug-testing Confusion

Some auditors have expressed views that people who receive stock items are performing safety-sensitive functions.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Industry group presses for regulatory progress and continuity across the continent 

African Bizav Strives for Greater Market Opportunity

Amy Wilder

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Rule would not apply to insulin-treated diabetes

FAA Proposes Easing Medical Approvals for Diabetic Pilots

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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Congress OKs Stopgap Government Funding Measure

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Longtime Bizav Attorney Gary Garofalo Flies West

His career spanned more than five and a half decades

New Treasury Rule Limits LLC Information Reporting

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Kassebaum pushed through the General Aviation Revitalization Act

Nav Canada Increases ATC Service Charges

Increased fees are to recover pandemic shortfall

FAA InFO Outlines CVR Upgrade Deadlines

Larger new bizav aircraft face 2027 deadline, while small new turbine bizav aircraft have 2029 deadline

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