FAA trains CPA airport personnel on new regulation

HONOLULU, Hawaii—Experts from the Federal Aviation Administration have just completed training employees from the Commonwealth Ports Authorities and other airport personnel from the Pacific islands on the newly revised Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139, a federal regulation that governs the operations of all US certified airports.

The FAR Part 139 mandates airport operators to follow approved airport standards as outlined in the regulation for efficient operation and to enhance the nation’s aviation safety program. The training was held from July 19 thru July 23 at the Honolulu International Airport.

Over 100 airport personnel from all Pacific island nations underwent the FAA training as part of efforts to ensure that all airports under the FAA jurisdiction understands and complies with the newly revised regulation.

The new Part 139 was adopted by the federal government as a final rule effective June 9, 2004 and now mandates full compliance within 6 months by airports such as the Saipan International Airport, Guam, Honolulu and other large Class I airports from the date it became effective. The new rule also re-categorizes airports as Class I, II, III or IV depending on the airport the type of scheduled air carrier operations and size of aircraft.

The new rule also covers the recent changes in technology and industry practices and addresses the NTSB recommendations. Equally important is that Part 139 now imposes stiffer penalty for violations from $1,000 a day to $25,000 a day.

CPA has no record of past violations that resulted in any penalty imposed by the FAA. “The fact that the penalty for violations has increased dramatically means the FAA has its own pressing mandates and goals to improve aviation safety for our nation. In its attempt to achieve the highest safety standards, the FAA is elevating its programs with airports for stricter compliance particularly with the provisions of Part 139 as they pertain to operating airports. CPA will aggressively accomplish all tasks as required by the new rule in order to be in full compliance as we have done so in the past,” pointed out by Carlos H. Salas, CPA Executive Director.

CPA attendees included Executive Director Carlos H. Salas, CPA Board member Mrs. Connie Igisomar, SIA Assistant Airport Manager Frank P. Villagomez, Staff Engineer John Sablan, ARFF Chief Stanley Torres, Tinian International Airport Assistant Manager Gerald Crisostomo and Rota International Airport Assistant Fire Chief Kelvin Hocog.

Also in attendance were other airport personnel from Guam International Airport, State of Hawaii airports, FSM, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands and American Samoa.

Salas said “CPA certainly takes compliance with Part 139 very seriously as the impact of a non-compliance situation will obviously be devastating on our island economy, to local travelers and the thousands of our visitors from Japan, Korea, U.S. and China.”

The FAR Part 139 sets forth the specific criteria and standards that FAA certificated airports are required to comply with including personnel training, aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) requirements, specialized airport equipment, standards for airport facilities, operations and maintenance of navigational aids, effective control of wildlife hazards, i.e. migratory birds, safe fuel handling and training of fueling agents, maintenance of runway and taxiway markings, signage and lightings and many other facets of airport operations. Failure to meet these standards may result in airports facing fines of $25,000 a day plus severe limitations or reduction of flights due to the unsafe conditions at the airport.