here goes another one from AOPA.Seems that a lot of work has to be done!
JAA-FAA Harmonization of Flight Crew Licensing (Pilot Certification)
Requirements
The issue:
For years, the European national civil aviation authorities have worked to harmonize the existing
patchwork of national aviation regulations into a single standard for all signatory nations under the
European Union. This work has come under the auspices of the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA)
resulting in a European standard for civil aviation regulation known as the Joint Aviation
Requirements (JARs). As the JARs continued to develop in Europe, the US Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), under direction from the White House, has worked toward harmonizing US
aviation regulations with the new European JARs. Preliminary efforts focussed on aircraft
certification, maintenance, and operations standards. More recently the emphasis has shifted to
harmonizing flight crew licensing requirements between the United States and Europe. The Flight
Crew Licensing Harmonization Working Group, under the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory
Committee (ARAC), was charged with developing recommendations to facilitate flight crew
licensing harmonization between the JAA and FAA. AOPA has been an active participant in this
group. The JAA regulations for pilot certification, included in Joint Aviation Requirements – Flight
Crew Licensing (JAR-FCL), are scheduled to take effect in Europe on July 1, 1999.
The importance to our members:
The new JAR-FCL, due to take effect on July 1, 1999, does not contain any provisions for the
conversion of US pilot certificates to the new European JAA certificates. This means that US pilots
would not be allowed to fly aircraft registered in any European country since pilot privileges are
tied to the national registry of aircraft. Similarly, because there are no provisions for the conversion
of a US pilot certificate to a JAA pilot’s license, European students who come to the US to learn
to fly would be unable to convert their US certificates to JAA certificates upon their return home.
This would have a significant impact on the US flight training industry, which relies heavily on
foreign students.
Significant provisions:
To understand the issues surrounding FCL harmonization, it is important to make the distinction
between validation and conversion of airmen certificates. A validation of a foreign pilot license is a
temporary authorization to fly aircraft of national registry based upon the foreign pilot’s license
originally issued to the airman. For example, a US pilot planning to fly German-registered aircraft in
Europe may seek out a temporary validation of a US pilot certificate from the German LBA (FAA)
to fly these aircraft. This is solely an authorization and is predicated upon the currency of the
underlying US pilot certificate. A conversion, on the other hand, involves actually issuing a new
certificate. For example, a US pilot could approach the same German LBA to seek a permanent
German pilot license. Once the conversion is complete, the two licenses are independent of one
another and either can be dropped. If both are maintained, the respective currency requirements of
each license or certificate must be adhered to in order to exercise the privileges of the certificate. A
description of the existing U.S. and European validation and conversion provisions follows:
Under current FAA regulations, a JAA pilot license of any level (private, commercial, or
ATP) will convert only to a FAA private pilot certificate.
Current JAA regulations require a bilateral agreement between the United States and the
issuing country in Europe for conversion of a U.S. pilot certificate to a national license in
Europe. There is no similar provision for conversion to a JAA license.
JAA flight crew licensing requirements permit validation of FAA pilot certificates with full
privileges of the corresponding JAR-FCL license, though the process can be difficult.
FAA regulations technically do not allow validation of JAR-FCL licenses, but they do
provide for the issuance of a special purpose authorization for flying U.S. registered aircraft
in air carrier operations.
Discussions are complicated by the fact that there are two distinct approaches taken to pilot
training in the United States and Europe. The JAR-FCL has two training systems for acquiring pilot
licenses and ratings — an integrated training program (ab initio), as well as a step-by-step
modular training program. Both JAA training systems emphasize formal theoretical knowledge
training along with skill testing. In sharp contrast, the FAA system of airmen certification
emphasizes skill testing, which individualizes the training and improves theoretical knowledge.
These philosophical differences make any direct comparison of the licensing programs impractical
and complicate efforts to harmonization regulations.
AOPA position:
AOPA believes that United States and European licenses should be converted or validated in
either direction with a minimum of additional requirements. Both United States and European pilots
have comparable safety records and, though training philosophies differ significantly, the end
product remains essentially the same. In the absence of specific language in the JAR-FCL
permitting validation and conversion, AOPA encourages the FAA to negotiate bilateral agreements
with each of the European Union countries to allow for conversion of US airmen certificates to
European national certificates.
Status:
The final meeting of the FAA-JAA Flight Crew Licensing Harmonization Working Group was held
in February 1999. While the group failed to reach agreement on many issues surrounding airmen
validations and conversions, the groundwork was laid for further talks between the FAA and JAA.
Talks continue between the JAA and the FAA on the development of bilateral agreements between
the United States and individual national civil aviation authorities. Currently, there is a JAA Notice
of Proposed Amendment (NPA-FCL 10) out for public comment, with comments due by May 31,
1999. None of the validation or conversion issues are addressed in this document. AOPA
continues to press for bilateral agreements that would enable the validation and conversion of US
airmen certificates to European pilot licenses.
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