AFS-10-200-E 

December 21, 2010 

 Exemption No. 10185 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2010-0265 

Mr. Boyd W. Pierce 

Director of Maintenance 

West Air Inc. 

5005 East Anderson Avenue 

Fresno, CA 93727 

Dear Mr. Pierce: 

This letter is to inform you that we have denied your petition for exemption. It transmits our 

decision and explains its basis. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated March 10, 2010, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 

behalf of West Air, Inc. (West Air), for an exemption from part 43 Appendix A(c)(32) and 

§§ 43.3(g) and 43.3(a) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent 

necessary to allow West Air’s pilots to install navigational databases. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to West Air. 

The FAA has issued a denial of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to 

those presented in your petition. In Denial of Exemption No. 7460 (copy enclosed), the FAA 

found the petitioner failed to show how allowing its pilots to update the navigational 

databases in its part 135 aircraft would offer a level of safety equivalent to that provided 

by § 43.3(g). 

In Exemption No. 7460, the FAA referenced Amendment No. 43-36, Revisions to 

Maintenance and Preventive Maintenance Rule; Final Rule (61 FR 19498, May 1, 1996). In 

the preamble to this amendment, we recognize the regulatory burden placed on part 135 

operators by prohibiting pilots from updating easily replaceable databases. Certain aviation 
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communication and navigation systems are now designed for easy removal and database 

update, and the amendment allows pilots conducting specific operations to perform these 

tasks. These operators are required to have a maintenance organization in place to support 

their part 135 operations, and their aircraft are more complex in design and construction. 

The FAA continues to believe that requiring preventive maintenance to be performed by a 

properly certified person creates a higher level of safety for operations conducted under 

part 135. We find that developing procedures and training pilots in those procedures to 

update global positioning system databases is not sufficient to maintain a level of safety 

equivalent to that provided when a certificated mechanic performs this task. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

 they do not differ materially from those presented by the petitioner in the enclosed denial 

of exemption; 

 the reasons stated by the FAA for denying the enclosed exemption also apply to the 

situation you present; and 

 a grant of exemption would not be in the public interest. 

Our Decision 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator 

has delegated to me, I hereby deny the petition of West Air, Inc., for an exemption from 

part 43 Appendix A(c)(32) and §§ 43.3(g) and 43.3(a) of 14 CFR. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

Raymond Towles 

Acting Director, Flight Standards Service 

Enclosure