The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently made changes to its Flight Standards Service (AFS), changes which went into effect this week.
The FAA calls the changes the Future of Flights Standards.
The changes are meant to promote efficiency by eliminating redundancy. One of the best ways to do this, the FAA said, is through organizational changes.
In the old organizational structure, the AFS was led by the flight standard service director and two deputy directors – the flight standard policy deputy and the flight standard field ops deputy. Under them were several division managers and assistant division managers.
In the new structure, regional offices were eliminated. Four organizations were created – air carrier safety assurance, foundational business, general aviation safety assurance, and safety standards – under the AFS.
Cultural changes also are designed at the individual and management level.
The Future of Flights Standards Initiative “is a service-wide effort to transform the culture of Flight Standards into an organization that facilitates critical thinking, interdependence and consistency to better serve aviation safety,” the FAA said.
In addition, the flight standards will be streamlined to improve accountability and response times.
The AFS was created to develop standards and certify aircraft operators based on those standards and to ensure safety.