AFS-15-483-E

April 21, 2015

 Exemption No. 10740A

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2012-1061

Ms. Barbara Russell, Esq.

Associate General Counsel

Virgin America, Inc.

555 Airport Boulevard, Suite 500

Burlingame, CA 94010

Dear Ms. Russell:

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

No. 10740. It transmits our decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and 

limitations of the exemption, including the date it ends.

The Basis for Our Decision

By letter dated January 29, 2015, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

on behalf of Virgin America, Inc. (Virgin America), for an extension of, and amendment to,

Exemption No. 10740. That exemption from § 61.3(a) and (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal 

Regulations (14 CFR) allows Virgin America to establish special procedures to issue to its 

pilot flight crewmembers, on a temporary basis, confirmation of any required pilot and

medical certificate and photo ID, based on information in the operator’s approved record

system.

Virgin America also requests Exemption No. 10740 be amended to provide relief from 

§ 121.383(a)(2). An exemption from this part is also necessary to allow Virgin America to 

issue written confirmation of an FAA-issued crewmember certificate to a pilot flight 

crewmember employed by Virgin America based on information in its approved record 

keeping system.

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

in the Federal Register because the requested extension of, and amendment to, the exemption 

would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to 

Virgin America.

Our Decision

Upon review of the petitioner’s request for amendment, the FAA has determined that a grant 

of relief from § 121.383 should have been included in the original grant of exemption to 

Virgin America, that the amendment is in the public interest and provides a level of safety at 

least equal to that provided by the rule from which the petitioner seeks exemption. Therefore, 

the FAA is amending the conditions and limitations to correspond to those of similar 

exemptions granted to other part 121 air carriers.

The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 10740 

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

authority provided by 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(g), 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator 

has delegated to me, Virgin America, Inc. is granted an extension of, and amendment to, 

Exemption No. 10740 for §§ 61.3(a) and (c), and 121.383 (a)(2) to allow Virgin America to 

issue written confirmation of an FAA-issued crewmember certificate to a pilot flight 

crewmember employed by that air carrier based on information in the air carrier’s approved 

record system, subject to the conditions and limitations described below.

Conditions and Limitations 

1. Prior to utilizing any provision of this plan, the carrier must develop, submit to, and 

have approved by its FAA Principal Operations Inspector a plan outlining the 

procedures it expects to employ in issuing a temporary confirmation document to 

crewmembers who do not have in their personal possession the airmen or medical 

certificate required under § 61.3 for a particular flight.

2. If the individual no longer has any identification, the carrier’s procedures, specified in 

Condition No. 1, must include a method to assure positive identification of the 

individual.

3. Each airman who operates a flight under this exemption must comply with § 61.29(c) 

and assure that a request for an official communication from the FAA confirming the 

applicable certificate is made within 72 hours of the initiation of any flight conducted 

under this exemption. The air carrier is authorized to make this application to the 

FAA on behalf of each applicable airman. The airman must provide a copy of the 

official communication to the air carrier within 24 hours of the receipt of that official 

communication.

4. The carrier’s confirmation must include the written words “Issued under the authority 

of Exemption No. ‘10740’, as amended.”
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5. The privileges of this exemption may only be exercised when the affected airman 

operates totally within the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous states of the 

United States.

This exemption terminates on April 30, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/s/

John Barbagallo

Acting Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service