What if we changed the order of FAA oversight of aircraft development and manufacturing to match that of the automobile industry?
Today’s car manufacturers must meet a lengthy list of rules and regulations. But enforcement of those rules and regs happens after the car is — pardon the pun — on the road.
“The Department of Transportation (DOT) sets strict safety requirements for cars, but manufacturers are allowed to release new designs without first getting the DOT to sign off that all the requirements have been satisfied,” writes Maxwell Tabarrok on the Foundation for Economic Education website. “The law is enforced ex post, and the government will impose recalls and fines when manufacturers fail to follow the law.”
That is certainly not how the aviation industry works.
“The FAA, by contrast, enforces all of its safety rules ex ante. Before aircraft manufacturers can do anything with a design, they have to get the FAA’s signoff, which can take more than a decade. This regulatory approach also makes the FAA far more risk-averse, since any problems with an aircraft after release are blamed on the FAA’s failure to catch them.”
The cost of failing to comply with regulations is far higher with aircraft than cars.
But I’ve long believed that if the FAA weren’t involved in aircraft certification that manufacturers would still build aircraft nearly the same as now. Why? Because their insurance carriers and investors would demand it.
And that’s not a bad thing, just a healthy balance of risk versus reward.
But the pace of innovation would likely increase, dramatically.
For what it’s worth, Tabarrok’s essay cites ex ante as the reason we don’t have flying cars today.
Flying cars or not, the idea of when the FAA gets involved is an interesting thought exercise.
The idea of having the FAA enforce regulations “ex post” is a good one. New innovations which can enhance safety are currently being delayed to…enhance safety?
Great idea, Ben! This could also work on the operational side. Imagine a new Part 135 charter operation. Instead of having to wait (some claim it takes up to two years!) for FAA inspectors to stamp their approval, the operator complies with all the regulations, starts flying, and the FAA monitors and oversees to ensure compliance. This would grease the wheels of aviation commerce! For those who say it would never work, I would point out that the FAA has few resources available for providing oversight because its inspectors are too busy checking paperwork as opposed to spending time at the companies they regulate.
Thanks Ben, an interesting read for a Sunday morning…
My dad, Thomas F. Curran Sr., was a brilliant aeronautical engineer who spent his entire career (post a stint as a USN F-4U Corsair plane captain) in the FAA‘s commercial aircraft certification side.
He was involved primarily with certification of powerplant installations, beginning with the 727 (his favorite Boeing jet), through the 767. His last 12 years were as Chief of the Propulsion Branch in the FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region Office when it was still on Boeing Field.
He was not responsible for the mountains of “red tape” that the FAA ‘flight standards’ rules required. He also agonized over how long it took to go through the type certification process(es), but he refused to bow to internal, or external, “pressures” to cut corners, in order to speed things up.
He never wavered in his commitment to ensuring the flying public was boarding the absolutely safest airplanes possible.
(I cannot imagine how he would react to the 737 Max debacle.)
BTW: His favorite commercial jet of all time…the Convair 880…sorry Boeing.
FWIW…he was also buddies with Molt Taylor. He introduced me to Mr. Taylor when I was a kid. At the time, Molt was trying to figure out how to use a Kawasaki 900cc Z-1 motorcycle engine for his new “Mini Imp” model. Kawasaki Heavy Industries thought highly enough about the idea, they sent a team of engineers to Longview to help him figure it out. If only…
Tom Curran Jr.
Tom,
A friend is doing taxi testing of his Mini-Imp, after decades of building.
He had a flexidyne failure , but otherwise the Cont. O-200 is running great.
I expect that he will be doing some high speed taxi and flying soon.!!
High performance on 100 HP.!!