AFS-17-00014-E 

November 23, 2016 

 Exemption No. 5560K 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2000-8180 

Ms. Stacey Bechdolt 

Vice President, Safety & Operations 

Regulatory Counsel 

Regional Airline Association 

2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800 

Washington, DC 20036 

Dear Ms. Bechdolt: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your petition to extend Exemption 

No. 5560, as amended. It explains the basis for our decision, describes its effect, and lists the 

conditions and limitations. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated September 19, 2016, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

on behalf of the Regional Airline Association (RAA), for an extension of Exemption No. 5560, 

as amended. That exemption from §§ 61.3(a) and (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations 

(14 CFR) allows RAA part 135 member carriers to establish special procedures that enable an 

air carrier to issue to its flight crewmembers, on a temporary basis, confirmation of any required 

pilot and medical certificate and photo ID, based on information contained in the operator’s 

approved record system. 

Also, you requested an exemption from § 135.95(a). However, in Exemption No. 5560, the 

FAA determined that an exemption from § 135.95 is not required, since that regulation does 

not require that a certificate holder’s airmen have their certificates in their possession, it only 

requires that each airman hold a certificate. 
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In your petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the conditions and reasons 

relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption. 

In previous grants of exemption, the FAA granted relief to the petitioner’s member airlines, as 

well as to “other qualifying part 119 certificate holders.” However, in an effort to manage 

exemptions granted by the FAA and to facilitate operator compliance with the conditions and 

limitations of a grant of exemption, the FAA is no longer including “other qualifying part 119 

certificate holders” in grants of exemption. Therefore, use of this exemption is limited to the 

RAA part 135 members listed in Attachment 1. 

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

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

acting on this petition would be detrimental to the RAA. 

Our Decision 

The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 5560, as 

amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption and is in the public interest. 

Therefore, under the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113, and 44701, which the 

FAA Administrator has delegated to me, RAA is granted an extension to Exemption No. 

5560, as amended, which allows RAA part 135 member carriers to establish special 

procedures that enable an air carrier to issue to its flight crewmembers, on a temporary basis, 

confirmation of any required pilot and medical certificate and photo ID, based on information 

contained in the operator’s approved record system, subject to the following conditions and 

limitations. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. This exemption is issued for the purpose of preventing cancellation of scheduled air 

carrier flights in situations where a pilot flight crewmember’s FAA pilot certificate, 

FAA medical certificate, and/or photo identification are valid but physically 

unavailable. The privileges of this exemption are intended for situations where 

crewmembers have no access to Airman Services at the www.faa.gov website for 

receiving via FAX or internet download FAA-issued documents containing temporary 

authority to exercise certificate privileges. 

2. This exemption allows RAA member carriers to develop and issue to a pilot flight 

crewmember a document confirming the pilot flight crewmember’s FAA-issued pilot 

and medical certification. The document issued by the RAA member carrier must be 

in the pilot flight crewmember’s physical possession when exercising the privileges of 

the exemption and must contain the following information— 

a. The pilot flight crewmember’s certification information from the 

crewmember’s pilot and medical certificates. 

b. The exact text or a photocopy of this exemption. 

c. The RAA confirmation document must include the following statements: 
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i. “Issued under the authority of Exemption No. 5560, as amended.” 

ii. “Expires (insert date/time 72 hours after issuance).” 

iii. “The privileges of this exemption may be exercised only within the 

District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous United States.” 

iv. The privileges of this exemption may only be exercised for scheduled 

air carrier flights. The privileges of this exemption may not be 

exercised for operations under part 91, part 91 Subpart K, or for 

unscheduled flights operated under part 135. 

3. Before conducting operations under this exemption, each RAA member carrier must 

receive approval from its FAA principal operations inspector (POI) for the procedures 

the RAA member carrier expects to employ in issuing a confirmation document to 

pilot flight crewmembers who do not have in their personal possession the pilot and/or 

medical certificate or photo identification. These procedures must include a method to 

ensure positive identification of the pilot flight crewmember when the pilot no longer 

has photo identification. 

4. Each pilot flight crewmember who operates a flight under this exemption must— 

a. As soon as practicable, obtain from Airman Services at the www.faa.gov 

website a document containing temporary authority to exercise certificate 

privileges. 

b. If the pilot flight crewmember’s FAA pilot and medical certificate are 

permanently lost or destroyed, the pilot flight crewmember must comply with 

§ 61.29 and assure that a request for a replacement certificate from the FAA is 

made within 72 hours of the initiation of any flight conducted under this 

exemption. The RAA member carrier is authorized to make the application to 

the FAA on behalf of each pilot flightcrew member. 

c. The pilot flightcrew member must provide a copy of the FAA-issued 

documents containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges to 

the RAA member carrier within 24 hours of the receipt of that document. 

Our decision extends the termination date to November 30, 2018, unless sooner superseded or 

rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

John Barbagallo 

Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service 
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Attachment 1 

The relief provided by Exemption No. 5560 is limited to the certificate holders listed below:1

Regional Airline Association Part 135 Members 

Empire Airlines, Inc. 

Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc. (DBA Scenic Airlines) 

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 

Hyannis Air Service, Inc. (DBA Cape Air) 

New England Airlines Inc. 

 

1

 Attachment updated October 31, 2016. The FAA confirmed with the petitioner that the DBA RAVN Alaska 

applies to its member Corvus Airlines, Inc. Because Corvus Airlines is a part 121 air carrier, the FAA has 

included it in Exemption No. 11152, applicable to RAA’s part 121 member carriers.