BULLETIN: FAA ANNOUNCES CURRENT POLICY REGARDING FUEL REIMBURSEMENT
EXEMPTIONS FOR VOLUNTEER PILOTS
Dear Volunteer Pilots, Group Leaders, Staff Members, and Friends of Public Benefit Flying,
Friday February 22, 2013, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA AFS-800 branch) published a notice in the Federal Register
concerning reimbursement for fuel expenses for pilots involved in charitable
patient transport operations.
The notice, available at
http://1.usa.gov/ZugfYn , published to comply with Section 821 of Public Law
112-95 (FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012), effectively states that the
FAA will continue to entertain waivers (exemptions) to CFR 14 61.113 as the
mechanism for volunteer pilots to receive compensation
for fuel expenses. It further provides the
current operating conditions and restrictions guiding issuance of the existing
waivers held by several Volunteer Pilot Organizations (VPO's).
The Air Care Alliance has been working with AFS-800 over the past two years
hoping to reduce the onerous restrictions contained in the waivers, and we have
made significant progress toward this goal.
As part of these ongoing discussions, we were told late last week that the
Notice was to be published in the Federal Register strictly as a matter of
fulfilling an administrative requirement to satisfy the law. We
were asked not to release this information until after the Notice was officially
published and were also reassured that this in no way obviates the ongoing
discussion to get to a more reasonable set of conditions for fuel reimbursement.
In fact, ACA will brief AFS-800regarding specific
proposals intended to reduce the burden on pilots and groups that choose to
reimburse for fuel. At this point, the Notice
simply reiterates the status quo and in no way affects the ongoing discussion.
Our contacts in AFS-800 remain open to hearing
proposals reducing these requirements, and to open,
honest discussions about how to provide a higher level of safety in instances
where pilots receive reimbursement.
As before, this notice and the discussions do not affect volunteer pilots who do
not seek or accept reimbursements for their charitable flights.
The existing FAA policy still applies, as
discussed on the Air Care Alliance site at
http://www.aircareall.org/tax.htm
The Air Care Alliance welcomes your continued input on this issue so please take
the time to make your thoughts known. Send your comments directly to ACA
President Lindy Kirkland at
lindy.kirkland@aircareall.org
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