Klobuchar, Nolan Legislation to Cut Red Tape for Small Aircraft Manufacturers Signed Into Law

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Congressman Rick Nolan announced today that their legislation to cut red tape for small aircraft manufactures has been signed into law. The Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 would modernize the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Part 23 certification process to improve safety, decrease costs and encourage innovation.

"This is great news for small aircraft manufacturers like Cirrus in Duluth who shouldn't have to suffer because of an outdated approval process," said Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. "This bill--now law--will help cut unnecessary red tape so that our manufacturers can continue to make the most advanced, innovative and safest planes in the world."

A member of the House Aviation Subcommittee, Nolan noted that "At Cirrus in Duluth and throughout the small aircraft industry, this bipartisan legislation is all about jobs, and the unleashing of a whole new generation of the world's safest, most technically advanced aircraft. Small aircraft manufacturers in America have been slowly choking over the past twenty years due to an outdated, unnecessarily lengthy approval process that increases the price of safety and technology upgrades by up to ten times. This bill--now law--gets to the root of the problem."

The Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 establishes December 15, 2015 as the deadline for the implementation of the FAA's Part 23 certification process modernization. Under current regulations, the cost of investing in new equipment is prohibitive due to outdated regulations. The law directs the FAA to implement the recommendations made by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee, composed of aviation authorities and industry representatives from around the world, to remove barriers to investing in new designs and increase the availability of lifesaving safety equipment for existing airplanes.

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