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B-214803 1 (1984-04-16)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabnis0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20648 April 16, 1984 RESOURCES. COMMUNITY. AND ECONOMIC DEVELOENT DIVISION B-214803 j ill The Honorable Andy Ireland, Chairman 124021 Subcommittee on Export Opportunities and Special Small Business Problems Committee on Small Business House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: Subject: Information on the Federal Aviation Administration's Regulation of the Aircraft Parts Manufacturing Industry In your June 10, 1983, letter, you and Congressman Skelton expressed concern with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) practices and procedures for regulating aircraft and engine parts manufacturers. You requested that we review FAA's regulatory practices and procedures to ascertain their impact upon economic efficiency and competition and to determine if those practices and procedures favor original equipment manufacturers over other parts manufacturers. We agreed with your office to examine FAA's overall regula- tions, policies, and practices relating to FAA's Parts Manufactur- ing Approval (PMA) process. In February 1984, we briefed your office on the status of our preliminary work, which was based on contacts with five parts manufacturers, five original equipment manufacturers, four aircraft repair facilities, and three FAA regional offices. We pointed out that FAA has been trying to change the PMA process since at least 1977 in an attempt to elimi- nate unnecessary procedural burdens, improve safety, and standard- ize the PMA process between FAA regions. Parts manufacturers have resisted FAA's attempted changes because they believe FAA's pro- posed actions would restrict small business opportunities. We advised your office that the five parts manufacturers and four of the five original equipment manufacturers we contacted said that FAA's PMA process, which for the most part has been in existence since 1956, has functioned satisfactorily. One original equipment manufacturer, however, objected to FAA's comparing its designs, which it considers proprietary data, with designs sub- mitted by parts manufacturers. We also pointed out that officials of FAA and aircraft repair facilities, which use parts manufac- tured under the PMA process, said that the parts present no safety problems. FAA has proposed a rule to allow parts manufacturers to (341055)

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