701 N. Terminal Service Road

Greensboro, NC 27409

Office: 336-790-7842

Fax: 336-808-0349

12 May 2014

VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION

U. S. Department of Transportation

Docket Management System

400 7th Street, SW, Room PL401

Washington, DC 20591-0001

Ladies and Gentlemen:

In accordance with §11.61 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), Dynamic Airways 

(2DYA562M) petitionsthe Administratorfor an exemption from §121.434(c)(1)(ii)to the extent

necessary to substitute a qualified and authorized check airman in place of an FAA Inspectorto 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 

§121.434.

The specific section 121.434(c)(1)(ii) – OPERATING EXPERIENCE, OPERATING CYCLES, AND 

CONSOLIDATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS reads 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 at least one flight leg which includes a takeoff 

and a landing.”

This petition requests relief from §121.434(c)(1)(ii) in those circumstances when an FAA 

Inspector is unavailable to observe a qualifying pilot in command during any operating 

experience flights.

Dynamic Airways will nominate qualified check airmen to perform this initial operating 

experience observation. The FAA will approve the qualified check airmen to conduct the 

observation through a letter of authorization.

The requirement of §121.434(c)(1)(ii) will be considered fulfilled if the FAA authorized

check airman performs the observation. The observation requirement will be documented 

in the qualifying pilot’s record.

The authorized check airman would be a check airman other than the one who is 

conducting the operating experience flights of the qualifying pilot.

The original intent of §121.434(c)(1)(ii), issued in 1970, was to validate the training that a pilot 

received in a visual simulator. Since the adoption of the rule, the airline industry has gathered 

more than 30 years of experience with basic and advanced simulation.
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The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot any time at the discretion of the Administrator 

and continues to do so regularly. However, the FAA conducts these routine observations on a

schedule defined by the local office without the requisite burden of specifying a particular flight 

or flight series necessitated by the carrier’s training and service schedule. Relieving FAA 

Inspectors from §121.434(c)(1)(ii) will allow the FAA to focus the efforts on higher priority safety 

concerns. 

Operational issues related with this request for exemption are listed below:

 The majority of Dynamic Airways operations are often short notice and international in nature.

Scheduling of FAA personnel to observe a qualifying pilot in command on an international 

operation with short notice is difficult to impossible. As advised by our FSDO-039, new 

inspector travel guidelines requires 30 days for country clearances and as much as 60 days if a 

visa is required.

 Dynamic currently employees 22 pilot’s with 12 new-hire pilot’s currently in class and another 

two classes of 12 scheduled. 

 Dynamic’s primary service areas are international. Currently two B767-200 aircraft are based 

in Saipan conducting operations into Mainland China, Korea and Hong Kong. We expect an 

additional aircraft to be based in Guam in June.

 Dynamic also currently operates a B767-200 all cargo aircraft based in MIA. This aircraft 

operates routes primarily into South American. One additional cargo aircraft will be added in 

the near future.

 Dynamic is also in the process of obtaining Domestic and Flag authority with an increase in

fleet size to follow.

As a result of these issues, many of our PIC candidates will be serving in OE status in excess of the 

hours required for the completion of the qualification segment while waiting for FAA participation. 

This impacts our crew scheduling ability and places unnecessary financial burden on the company.

Granting of this exemption is in the public interest and would allow the FAA to focus its inspection 

force on higher priority safety issues. It would also provide for a higher level of PIC candidate 

scrutiny by using Dynamic Airways check airman who are more familiar with company operating 

policies and procedures while eliminating delays in OE completion. Additional benefits are realized 

in increased productivity and reducing unnecessary additional costs to the company.

Granting and using this proposed exemption would have no significant impact upon safety. The 

authorized check airman will be highly trained, experienced, and qualified in the specific aircraft 

type. In addition, any check airman used must be approved by the FAA. Dynamic Airways check 

airman will only be used to satisfy the requirements of §121.434(c)(1)(ii) when a qualified FAA 

Inspector is not available. The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot at any time during line 

operations.
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Dynamic Airways is aware that the FAA has granted several exemptions to individual operators for

similar relief sought by this request. Therefore, since granting this exemption is not precedent setting, 

Dynamic Airways requests that publication of this petition in the Federal Register be waived in 

accordance with Section 11.87(b). Any delay in granting this exemption will have an adverse impact

upon Dynamic Airways operations.

SUMMARY

Dynamic Airways Petition for an Exemption to FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii)

Dynamic Airways petitions the Administrator for an exemption from §121.434(c)(1)(ii) to the 

extent necessary 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 §121.434.

Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at 336-609-4451 or 

email: hgillis@fly-dynamic.com.

Sincerely,

Herman F. Gillis, III

Director Operations

cc: G. Lukenbill - COO

L. Schott – VP Operations

 F. Truskolaski – Chief Pilot

J. Verre – Manager FSDO-EA39

T. Bernhardt – POI FSDO-EA39