FAA last week issued a final rule that will result in a sweeping overhaul of the aircraft registration process in the U.S. beginning Oct. 1. The requirements have raised a number of industry concerns, and a group of title lawyers are slated to meet with the agency Wednesday (July 28) with a lengthy list of questions.

The new rule will terminate the registration of all civil aircraft registered before Oct. 1 and will require their re-registration on a staggered schedule over the next three years. Once re-registered, aircraft registrations will be up for renewal every three years. FAA will collect a fee of $5 for each registration and renewal, and the agency will cancel the N numbers of aircraft that are not re-registered or renewed.

This rule also eliminates the current Triennial Aircraft Registration Report Program, and provides clear time limits and standards for canceling aircraft with registrations that have ended and for which no new registration application has been made or completed. It also makes several administrative changes to conform the regulation to statute and current registration practices.

In enacting the rule, FAA says the new registration system would provide more up-to-date data and better information about the state of the aviation industry, long a goal of government and law enforcement agencies. FAA estimates that about one-third of the 357,000 registered aircraft records are inaccurate, and that many aircraft associated with those records are likely ineligible for registration.

The inaccuracies of the old aircraft-registration system are the result of failures in voluntary compliance, FAA says. Although aircraft owners are required to report the sale of an aircraft, death of an owner, scrapping or destruction of an aircraft and changes in mailing address, many have not. Without owner-initiated action, there has been no means to correct those records. The new system will ensure that aircraft owners refresh that data by providing information on the status of their aircraft at least once every three years when registration is renewed, the agency says.

Industry Concerns

In 2008, when FAA proposed changes in the aircraft registration process, many industry associations expressed concerns with the agency’s plan. While they virtually all support the goal of an accurate registration database, several groups have reservations about the final rule.

National Aircraft Resale Association President Susan Sheets says, “With the increased workload of processing 357,000 aircraft for re-registration, will the FAA have the manpower to produce new certificates of registration on a timely basis? Since there is no obligation for the FAA to complete the process for a new certificate prior to the expiration date, and no provision for an extension of time, will a continuous registration be jeopardized, raising a host of financial and insurance issues?”

The National Business Aviation Association last week expressed concerns about the details of the rule. “The FAA registry needs to be as accurate as possible,” notes Mike Nichols, vice president, operations, education and economics for NBAA. He says a requirement for re-registration every three years appears reasonable. But the final rule leaves open a number of questions, Nichols says, and those questions become an issue because FAA has provided “a very compressed time frame” for implementation of the requirements.

In particular, questions surround the ability of FAA to ensure aircraft owners are properly notified of their re-registration requirements, particularly if the registry contains incorrect or incomplete owner information. NBAA also echoes concerns that FAA has no mandate to process registrations on a timely basis, which could leave owners vulnerable to having their aircraft grounded.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association had suggested that the rule not include fees and that the FAA should not cancel N-numbers for lack of renewal. “We are disappointed that the FAA has chosen what may turn out to be a complicated and costly method of updating the aircraft registry,” says Rob Hackman, AOPA’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “AOPA will be monitoring the implementation of the rule closely and communicating with the FAA about any issues that arise.”

Dennis van de Laar, manager of regulatory affairs for the National Air Transportation Association, says NATA is “disappointed with the overall implementation of the rule. The owner is expected to apply for re-registration no less than two months ahead of the expiration of the current registration. NATA questions the processing time required and is concerned about possible lapses of registration in case an applicant falls just outside of this window. The ability to obtain issuance of a temporary registration in such a case would have been ideal, but is not offered.”

NATA is concerned about the increased attention required for those who operate aircraft owned by another party, the association says. NATA further worries about the possibility that registration and administrative fees may increase over time, saying that passage of the latest version of the FAA reauthorization bill would require FAA to increase fees to $130 for initial registration and $45 for renewals.

Finally, NATA is disappointed that FAA has not updated its electronic filing system for registration to accept both unchanged registrations and those with updates. The association says it will continue to press the FAA to allow for the online system to produce a confirmation that the information has been submitted and then to allow that confirmation to be carried with the expiring certificate until the new one arrives, allowing uninterrupted operation even if the new certificate is not received until after the expiration date.