AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: This action revises the FAA’s requirements for application to operate in RVSM airspace. The amendment eliminates the requirement for operators to apply for an RVSM authorization when their aircraft are equipped with qualified ADS–B Out systems and meet specific altitude keeping equipment requirements for operations in RVSM airspace. This action recognizes the enhancements in aircraft monitoring resulting from the use of ADS–B Out systems and responds to requests from operators to eliminate the burden and expense of the current RVSM application process for aircraft equipped with qualified ADS–B Out systems in the Domestic US and the limited ICAO States that do not require FAA LOA/OpSpec B036/D092 for RVSM.
NOTE* – UPDATED 02052019, the FAA has provided a draft copy of AC 91-85B which supersedes the last AC for RVSM. This includes Important information and supports our previous statement: It is important to consider that the FAA LOA/OpSpec Requirements for the B046 application will be decommissioned January 22nd, 2019 in the Domestic US Airspace only.
RVSM airspace, associated civil aviation regulations, maintenance requirements, operations manuals, forms, and FAA approvals for airspace outside the Domestic US with flight operations conducted outside of the contiguous U.S., including flights to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, still require a formal LOA/MSpec/OpSpec application under ALL circumstances including oceanic FIRs, NAT-HLA, and the ICAO States where RVSM approvals are required remain in effect as per 14 CFR 91.703. Other Countries that utilize ADS-B Out in lieu of an RVSM Authorization are currently China, Australia, and Thailand only.
DATES: Effective January 22, 2019.
NOTE – There will be additional information to follow, please monitor or contact us via email with questions or concerns.
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