### BEFORE THE

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC

Petition of ) ) TEM Enterprises d/b/a Xtra Airways ) Exemption No . 9736A ) Regulatory Docket for an exemption from various ) No. FAA-2008-0588 provisions of 14 CFR Part 121. ) )

PETITION OF

TEM ENTERPRISES D/B/A XTRA AIRWAYS

FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION

Summary

In accordance with the provisions of § 11.61 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), TEM Enterprises d/b/a Xtra Airways (“Xtra”) hereby requests a renewal of its exemption from the terms of 14 CFR § 61.3(a) and § 61.3(c) allowing an operator to issue to its flight crewmembers, on a temporary bas is, confirmation of any required crewmember certificate based upon information conta ined in the operator’s approved record system.

The exemption was originally granted to Xtra Airway s on August 4, 2008 in Exemption 9736 (“the Exemption”) and corrected on A ugust 14, 2008. It was renewed on April 29, 2010 and is now set to expire on Augus t 31, 2012.

Under the exemption, Xtra Airways pilots are author ized to carry written confirmation of FAA-issued pilot or medical certifi cates provided by Xtra Airways based on information in Xtra Airways’s approved record sy stem.

Exemption 9736A has proved to be a useful device th at benefits the commercial aviation industry and the flying public and there h as been no change in the underlying circumstances or reasons that justified granting th e Exemption. For these reasons, it

should be extended.

FAR’s Affected

Section 61.3(a) states, in pertinent part, that no person may act as pilot-incommand or in any other capacity as a required pilo t flight crewmember of a civil aircraft of United States registry unless he has in his phys ical possession or readily accessible

in the aircraft a certificate issued to him under t his part. This section also requires the crewmember to have in his physical possession or re adily accessible in the aircraft a government issued photo identification which includ es a valid drivers license or official
passport.2 Section 61.3(c) imposes the same possession requir ements for an appropriate

current medial certificate.

Discussion

The request for renewal of the Exemption is support ed by the same statements and justifications that justified its original gran t. As noted in Xtra’s original petition for an exemption, the reasons the exemption serves the pub lic interest and ensures at least equivalent levels of safety were set forth by the A ir Transport Association of America (ATA) in its petition for similar relief for air ca rriers who operate under Part 121 and the Regional Airline Association (RAA) for scheduled ai r carriers who operate under Part 135. The information presented by ATA is found in Regulatory Docket No. 26582 and was the basis upon which the FAA issued Exemption N o. 5487 to ATA members operating under Part 121. The information presente d by RAA is found in Regulatory Docket No. 26952 and was the basis upon which the F AA issued Exemption No. 5560 to RAA members and other scheduled 135 carriers operat ed under Part 135. Those presentations of the relevant issues remain applica ble to Xtra Airways as well. Further, four years of operations under the Exemption demons trate that granting a renewal of the Exemption would not adversely affect safety and wou ld be in the public interest.

Xtra justifies its request with the following: Xtra’s flights are largely unscheduled (charter) and involve operations during all hours o f the day and night, often to remote locations. Considering the number of certificated airmen required to support these operations, it is not uncommon for a small percenta ge of this group to have his or her required certificate(s) and/or photo ID misplaced, lost, or destroyed. Occasionally, this may occur at a time and/or location where it is not possible to contact the FAA in Oklahoma City to request the appropriate telegraphic confirmation in accordance with §61.29. It may also be impractical to obtain a required photo ID at the time and/or

location. Under the current rules, a flight must then be delayed or cancelled u ntil the FAA

certificate confirmation and/or photo ID can be received by the operating crew. Xtra, like ATA and RAA, believes that such delay or cancellati on should not be necessary

because the certificate holder has a record of the airman’s certificates and a copy his or her passport and/or drivers license. However, to co mply with the above rules, the flight must be delayed or in some cases cancelled simply because the FAA offices in Oklahoma are closed, because prompt telegraphic capabilities may not be available at the airman’s location, or because there is no way to quickly acquire a replacement photo

ID.

As supporting justification that the petition would establish a level of safety equivalent to the regulation, essentially the ATA p etition proposed that an approved

method be established as an alternative. That metho d would confirm the identity of the crewmember and provide the crewmember with a facsim ile of the certificate(s) and/or photo ID. ATA also proposed that the operator-iss ued certificate confirmation would be valid only until the airman is able to acquire FAA- issued certificate confirmation. Xtra proposes the same with the addition that the operat or-issued copy of a current valid driver’s license or official passport be valid (for FAA identification purposes only) until a replacement government photo ID can be acquired.3

Request for Waiver

Xtra Airways hereby requests waiver of publication of this petition in the Federal Register as was granted to Xtra Airways in its prio r renewal request.

In addition to the grant of Xtr Airways’ previous r equest, precedent for such a waiver can be found in the grant of similar request s to ATA and RAA.

* * *

ACCORDINGLY, TEM Enterprises d/b/a Xtra Airways req uests that the aforementioned Exemption be renewed for a period of two years, and that the FAA grant any other and further relief that it may deem neces sary.

Respectfully submitted,



### Mark W. Atwood

Joshua P. Stein

Cozen O’Connor 1627 I Street NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20006 Counsel for TEM Enterprises, d/b/a Xtra Airways
Dated: June 19, 2012