Essay on NPIAS Airports and ACM

The FAA has the mandate and authority provided under Title 49 of the United States Code 44706 to regulate the operations of airports through issuing the operating certificates (Stambaugh, 2013). The body is also mandated with the authority to establish the minimum safety guidelines that the airports should be operating under. Although some people may think that the FAA is infringing the rights of the airport owners and the people in charge, it should be understood that the establishment of the Airport Compliance Manual (ACM) was just part of their daily activities to ensure the safety of the passengers traveling through the air. Therefore, all the NPIAS airports should have an ACM.

All NPAS airports should have an ACM and operation certification from the FAA to ensure that the airport facilities are updated and able to respond to any emergency whenever it arises. The changes that FAA made are part of the new measures to ensure that the accidents involving aircraft are significantly reduced. All the regulations and requirements are included in 14 CFR Part 139 (Song et al., 2014). It has been long when the Part 139 guidelines were updated (the last update was in 1987). The society has changed; the kinds of aircraft people traveled in 1987 and prior are not the same as today. Therefore, the regulations require changes to suit the new and ever changing society.

Although some people may argue that the move by the FAA to establish the new regulations under Part 139 is unfair and infringement of the rights of the people in charge, but it should be noted that the revised regulations would not affect the carrier operations. The new changes are only established to improve the safety and emergency responses in the airports. Further, the regulations in Part 139 are only mandatory if airport operator decides to work under carrier operations (Stambaugh, 2013). Again, the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) aims at improving the operations and coordination of airport operations. For instance, the NPIAS provides established and proposed airports that are important to the national air transportation to receive the Federal grants. Further, it should be noted that given that the FAA requires the NPIAS airports to have the ACM does not mean that the other airports are exempted from aviation regulations. Other airport operators which do not require certification and inspection as provided under Part 139 are also complying with the FAA safety and environmental compliance. Again, the local governments are mandated to inspect and oversee the activities and operations of non-Part 139 airports. Therefore, in my opinion, I think that the NPIAS should have the Airport Compliance Manual.

References

Song, K., Lewe, J. H., & Mavris, D. (2014). A Multi-Tier Evolution Model of Air Transportation Networks. In 14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference (p. 3267).

Stambaugh, C. (2013). Social media and primary commercial service airports. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2325), 76-86.