{"id":157,"date":"2012-04-24T08:33:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T05:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smll.fi\/?p=157"},"modified":"2012-04-24T08:33:08","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T05:33:08","slug":"english-easa-lightens-up-on-certificate-conversions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/?p=157","title":{"rendered":"(English) EASA lightens up on certificate conversions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0EASA lightens up on certificate conversions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Thomas A. Horne<\/em><\/p>\n

But there has been much confusion. The new rules have been understood in many different ways\u2014many of them incorrect\u2014and rumors abound. In an effort to clear the air, so to speak, EASA called a press conference that sounded a conciliatory tone. Entitled \u201cBetter Regulations for GA,\u201d EASA\u2019s presentation emphasized that each of the European Union\u2019s 27 participating nations have the opportunity to temporarily opt out of applying the new rules. Turns out that \u201ctemporary\u201d has several meanings. Stick with me here, because we\u2019re about to tread\u2014lightly\u2014upon EASA\u2019s massive bureaucratic landscape.<\/p>\n

First comes the \u201c20-day rule,\u201d which kicked in the day after April 8. As I understand it, the original April 8 rules don\u2019t really take effect until these magical 20 days pass. Then it\u2019s official\u2014unless a member nation decides to opt out of adopting the rules, in which case it has until April 8, 2013, to fall in line. This time frame gives pilots an extra year to take the tests and otherwise comply with the new rules.<\/p>\n

But wait\u2014there\u2019s another opt-out period for those nations wanting to participate. This one applies to what EASA calls LAPLs (light airplane licenses\u2014the kind you and I possess). This opt-out period lasts until April 8, 2015, and gives general aviation pilots two years to comply. Airline pilots both domestic and foreign are not affected by the new rules, by the way; they have their own sets of rules.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the kicker: EASA admits that it doesn\u2019t know who has already opted out under the 20-day or two-year grace period provisions. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had time to assess the situation,\u201d an EASA official said. \u201cIt\u2019s too soon.\u201d So yet another deadline applies for declaring an opt-out either by April 8, 2013, or April 8, 2015. This declaration to opt for the opt-outs kicks in on June 8, 2012. \u201cThen we\u2019ll know who has opted out,\u201d EASA said.<\/p>\n

Clear as mud? I feel your pain. But the bottom line is that it will be quite some time before the new rules are official, with the exact time depending on which date a member nation has chosen as an opt-out period. You can thank the European AOPAs for all these delays. \u201cIf this keeps up,\u201d one official of a European AOPA said, \u201cwe\u2019ll be able to keep putting off this rule based on the increasingly negative feedback we\u2019re voicing to EASA. EASA says this is all to improve safety. But we tell them, how do you measure this? And why is there such conviction that simply adding more oppressive rules will translate into a safer flying environment?\u201d<\/p>\n

Last but not least, there\u2019s been great concern that those with U.S. pilot certificates will not be able to fly in Europe without going through the hoops and earning the new certificate. Not so, according to those in the know. The prevailing interpretation is that the new rules apply only to those \u201cdomiciled\u201d in the European Union. In other words, those holding European citizenship or holding European passports. So if you\u2019re an American planning on flying your airplane to Europe for a vacation, go right ahead. Living in a hotel room or renting a house in Europe doesn\u2019t make you a European citizen.<\/p>\n

Besides, EASA hasn\u2019t established a means to enforce the new rules yet\u2014for any type of citizen. Or any type of pilot for that matter. Neither has it published any handbooks, learning standards, or teaching materials that address the new certification rules. So until these new rules gel\u2014and it looks like that will be later rather than sooner\u2014the status quo will prevail. Unless a nation fails to opt out of one of the opt-out grace periods, that is. Stay tuned for news on any future developments and clarifications of what promises to be a monumental saga of rulemaking for rulemaking\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0EASA lightens up on certificate conversions By Thomas A. Horne But there has been much confusion. The new rules have been understood in many different ways\u2014many of them incorrect\u2014and rumors abound. In an effort to clear the air, so to speak, EASA called a press conference that sounded a conciliatory tone. Entitled \u201cBetter Regulations for … <\/p>\n

Jatka lukemista<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yleinen","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smll.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}