So our new president decided to cancel all new government regulations by budgeting zero dollars to pay for new regulations. This isn’t exactly a novel idea; many new presidents have tried to tackle the overwhelming number of regulations that govern nearly everything we do. Aviation isn’t immune, and we all spend a ton of time trying to understand and then comply with our regulatory burden.
Sadly, whoever crafted the executive order that halted all regulatory activity sure didn’t think about the consequences. Airworthiness directives (AD) are regulations. So if the FAA found something unsafe in an aircraft, it couldn't issue ADs to warn us, although it turns out that there was only a three-week hiatus before the FAA resumed publishing ADs. I suppose the FAA in the meantime could have issued a Supplemental Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB), which is a recommendation that carries no legal weight, but those have limited benefit, especially for a serious safety issue. When was the last time you heeded the information in an SAIB?
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
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