5000 N.W. 36th Street  Suite 307  Miami, Florida 33122  Phone: (305) 876-3600  Fax: (305) 871-4222 / 871-2003

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 660880  Miami Springs, Florida 33266-0880

U.S. Department of Transportation

Docket Management System

400 7th Street Southwest Room PL-401

Washington D.C. 20590-0001

Ladies/Gentlemen:

In accordance with the provisions of 14 CFR 11, Subpart A, Miami Air International (MYWA994S)

requests exemption from 121.434(c)(1)(ii) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). This

exemption would permit Miami Air International to substitute a qualified and authorized check airman in

place of an FAA inspector to observe a qualifying Pilot in Command (PIC) while that PIC is performing

prescribed duties during at least one flight that includes a takeoff and a landing when completing initial or

upgrade training as specified in FAR 121.424. This substitution would only occur at the discretion of the

POI and only when an FAA inspector is not immediately available, subject to certain conditions and

limitations.

SECTIONS OF THE FAR AFFECTED

Section 121.434(c)(1)(ii) (Operating Experience, Operating Cycles, and Consolidation of Knowledge and

Skills) in pertinent part:

“In addition, if a qualifying pilot in command is completing initial or upgrade training specified in FAR 

121.424, be observed in the performance of prescribed duties by an FAA Inspector during a flight 

leg that includes a takeoff and landing.”

NATURE AND EXTENT OF RELIEF REQUESTED:

This petition seeks relief from FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii) when an FAA inspector is unavailable to observe a

qualifying pilot in command during any of the scheduled operating experience flights. The exemptions

would be subject to the following conditions and limitations:

1. Miami Air International will submit to its POI an estimate of the number of PICs completing training and 

a plan of how OE will be conducted. The plan would be submitted to the POI prior to beginning OE by 

qualified check airmen.

2. Miami Air International will nominate only qualified check airmen to perform OE observation, and the 

FAA will approve the qualified check airmen to conduct the observations through a letter of

authorization.

3. The requirement of FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii) will be considered fulfilled if the observation is performed by 

an FAA-authorized check airman. The observation requirement will be documented in the qualifying 

pilot’s record.

4. The authorized check airman observing the qualifying pilot will be a check airman other than the one 

who is conducting the operating experience flights and will not have previously conducted any

operating experience flight during the current initial or upgrade training of the qualifying PIC.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Background:

The original purpose of FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii), issued in early 1970 was to validate the training a pilot

received in a visual simulator. Since that rule was adopted, the airline industry had 10 years experience 

with visual simulators followed by over 20 years experience with advanced simulation. The airlines have

successfully trained tens of thousands of pilots using sophisticated advanced simulators. The combined

experience of the airline industry and the FAA with advanced simulation has made the present rule

obsolete.
5000 N.W. 36th Street  Suite 307  Miami, Florida 33122  Phone: (305) 876-3600  Fax: (305) 871-4222 / 871-2003

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 660880  Miami Springs, Florida 33266-0880

Justification:

1. Better use of FAA resources - At Safety Summit I, sponsored by the Department of Transportation 

and the FAA, one of the recommendations from the Training Issues Working Group was to allow the 

substitution of a qualified company check airman to provide the FAA observation when an FAA inspector 

was not available. This allows the FAA to target its personnel on those areas deserving higher priority and 

attention, and thus provide a more cost effective use of an inspector’s time. The Safety Summit I 

recommendation has been endorsed at all levels of the FAA as an action that would clearly benefit the FAA 

and the airlines.

2. Reduced Training Delays and Associated Costs - Delays in using a qualifying PIC for line operations 

that occur when the airline is forced to wait until the FAA can observe the qualifying PIC are costly. Miami 

Air International anticipates a requirement to train approximately 2-3 new PICs each month. Because the 

majority of Miami Air International flights are both international and adhoc in nature, Miami Air has 

experienced periods where FAA manpower and resources have been limited, resulting in the POI’s inability 

to provide the necessary inspectors to perform operating experience (OE) observations in a timely fashion. 

The resulting extension of time required to qualify a PIC creates additional costs to Miami Air as well as the

potential for the cancellation of passenger flights due to a lack of PICs.

3. Equivalent or Higher Level of Safety - To ease the burden on APM’s other FAA inspectors are

sometimes called upon to perform initial observations, however they may not be qualified on the airplane 

type flown or familiar with the airline’s operating procedures or routes. Utilizing a qualified company check 

airman who is highly qualified in the airplane to complete the observation guarantees more careful scrutiny 

of the PIC’s performcance than can be obtained from an observer who is not qualified in the aircraft. Thus, 

equivalent or even higher levels of safety are assured.

4. Reduced Training Burden - Compounding the problem for PICs who are waiting for FAA observation 

is the effect it may have on the PIC’s ability to accomplish the required 100 hours in 120 days to comply 

with the “Consolidation of Knowledge and skills” under FAR 121.434. Not only may the PIC consolidation 

period be extended through no fault of his/her own, but the operator would be required to provide refresher 

training and/or supervised line operations before the PIC may serve again on that particular aircraft. This 

would be disruptive to the PIC and costly to the operator.

5. No Reduction in FAA Oversight - The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot at any time, which 

the FAA routinely does. Relieving FAA inspectors from FAR121.434(c)(1)(ii) would allow the FAA to focus 

its efforts on higher priority safety concerns. Additionally, FAA will approve the selection of all check 

airmen and oversee their training and continuing qualification. 

PUBLIC INTEREST:

Granting of this petition would permit:

1. The FAA greater flexibility and better use of its inspection force by focusing on higher priority safety 

functions;

2. Miami Air International to ensure greater schedule integrity by significantly increasing the availability of 

qualified pilots, improving the airline’s ability to reduce flight cancellations and provide on-time, dependable 

air service to the public; and,

3. Miami Air International to reduce the unnecessary cost of wages and lost productivity for those qualified 

pilots waiting for the FAA observation. These cost factors directly influence the price of air travel by the 

public.
5000 N.W. 36th Street  Suite 307  Miami, Florida 33122  Phone: (305) 876-3600  Fax: (305) 871-4222 / 871-2003

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 660880  Miami Springs, Florida 33266-0880

NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON SAFETY

This request is predicated on the precautions proposed in the conditions and limitations under the “Nature

and Extent of Relief Requested”, the “Supporting Information” and “Public interest” discussion listed above

which, when considered in their entirety, will provide at least an equivalent level of safety as provided by

the existing rule while improving the ability of Miami Air International to provide air service to the public with 

greater economic benefits to the public, FAA and Miami Air International. The granting and use of this 

exemption would have no adverse effect on safety for the following reasons:

1. The authorized check airman will be highly trained and experienced with the particular airplane type 

and will be approved by the FAA;

2. The check airman would be used to fulfill the requirements of 121.434 (c)(1)(ii) only when an FAA

inspector is not available;

3. The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot at any time during line operations; and

4. The proposed conditions and limitations associated with this exemption provide the FAA with ample 

opportunity to observe initial and upgrade PICs for the purpose of validating the Miami Air 

Internmational training. They also provide a quality control mechanism for evaluating the Miami Air 

International designated check airman program. 

In accordance with the provisions of 14 CFR 11, Exceptions to Publication of Summary of Petition for

Exemption, Miami Air International requests that a finding of good cause be made for waiving publication

in the Federal Register. The exemption, if granted, would not set a precedent and a delay in granting the

requested extension would not be in the public interest. Miami Air International therefore requests that the 

publication and comment period be waived. It is noted that three similar exemptions (Regulatory Docket 

No. FAA-2007-0025, Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2007-28451, and Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2007-

28168) have recently been granted to other airlines.

Please inform me if you require any additional information to evaluate or act on this petition.

Sincerely,

Kurt Kamrad

VP Flight Operations

Miami Air International