Why You Need to know about FAA Compliance (Federal Aviation Administration)

Author: Adam Fleming

We have heard about the very high standards being set by the airline industry around the world, especially so in advanced economies such as the US. Much of this is owed to the efforts and purpose of the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is an agency that comes under the United States Department of Transportation. Its primary aim, as indicated by its name, is to regulate and oversee civil aviation within the US. It is also responsible for operating and developing the National Airspace System.

The FAA has taken upon itself its mission of ensuring safety in civil aviation. In the process of doing this, the FAA has its set of responsibilities. The FAA:

  • Regulates civil aviation with the aim of ensuring aviation safety within the US and away
  • Researches and develops the National Airspace System and civil aeronautics
  • Regulates commercial transportation in the US
  • Puts in place a system of civil and military aircraft air traffic control and navigation and operates it
  • Is involved in promoting and developing civil aeronautics, innovative aviation technology being among them
  • Grants licenses for commercial space launch facilities, as well as private launches of space payloads carried on expendable launch vehicles
  • Develops and implements programs that are aimed at controlling noise from aircraft and monitors other environmental factors that affect civil aviation.

Here’s why you need to know about FAA

Here’s why you need to know about FAA: The Federal Aviation Administration is a powerful and all-encompassing agency when it comes to ensuring civil aviation safety. Its activities cover all aspects of civil aviation safety and administration. The broad areas in which the FAA regulates activities aimed at ensuring these include:

  • Regulation of all aspects of aviation safety
  • Transportation in the commercial space
  • Management of airspace and air traffic
  • Civil aviation overseas
  • Core areas relating to civil aviation, such as research, engineering, and development
  • Handling and overseeing all air navigation facilities

The FAA’s role in air traffic management is another of the reasons why you need to know about FAA

Indeed, there is another core reason for which you why you need to know about FAA: in addition to all these, the FAA is involved in a very big way with air traffic management. These are some of the ways in which the Federal Aviation Administration is involved in air traffic management:

Firstly, most of the tower-based ATM that you get to see at all major airport facilities, are provided by the FAA.

Also, the FAA is only agency authorized to provide enroute ATM services all over the US. This task of the FAA is the responsibility of the Air Traffic Organization (ATO), which is an administrative entity that is related to, but separate from the FAA’s organizational structure.

Finally, wondering who is responsible for safety regulation of all aviation activities within the US, including that of ATM? It is the FAA. The FAA has established an ATM Safety Oversight organization within its regulatory division and is responsible for the oversight of safety concerning the ATO’s operations and activities.