PLANE TALK
who said that they were going to get the politicians involved or my superiors brought into the discussions. My apologies to the non-Canadians reading this article as my examples will be Canadian ones, but you can substitute your own titles and I believe the core points will remain the same.
If you decide to jump right to the top and write to the Minister of Transport or the FAA Administrator, the system kind of locks down. By this I mean that your correspondence goes into a very controlled and accountable system with discrete timelines. Obviously an answer cannot be drafted unless there is input from your inspector. The inspector working on your file is now tasked, on a priority basis, to write a draft regarding your issue. That means no work on your file. Then it goes up and down the chain of command until everyone is happy with the reply and signs off. Simply put, it is not good for your career to get the top person to sign a letter or make decisions based on poor or inaccurate information. It locks everyone into a very formal reply mode. It is much better to resolve things locally if possible. Occasionally you run into a major policy matter. This is where you can turn for help to industry associations, who might already be working on the subject. There is power in numbers. I made some policy decisions on a single letter input or a meeting, but most times it was with association support. Unfortunately, the general public rarely gets involved unless it is in regard to fees, taxes or subsidies, all outside safety regulation field for the most part. There are exceptions of course, like licensing fees.
If you’re facing a serious legal issue,
then aviation-skilled lawyers are a good place to turn. Most of your issues are likely of a technical or an administrative nature. Additionally, there are consultants who can offer a valuable service to you depending on their background and interests. One advantage of using them is that you can augment your resources for short-term issues, like dealing with a regulatory problem. Regardless of how you approach solving the issues, and what resources you bring, it will be the facts that determine the final outcome for most matters.
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DOMmagazine.com | feb 2017
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