April 25, 2012

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), MN Airlines LLC

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.

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.

- MN Airlines, LLC 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.

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.
1300 Mendota Heights Rd, Mendota Heights, MN 55120

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

- The majority of MN Airlines, operations are scheduled domestic 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.

- No locally qualified inspectors are currently capable of this observation in our Certificate 

Holding District Office of the Minneapolis FSDO this greatly impacts the ability to comple our 

training in a timely manner.

As a result of these issues, many of our PIC candidates will serve 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 MN Airlines’ 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. MN Airlines 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. MN Airlines 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, MN Airlines 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 MN Airlines operations.

SUMMARY

MN Airlines LLC Petition for an Exemption to FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii)

MN Airlines LLC 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 651-681-

3983 or mark.vogelgesang@suncountry.com.

Sincerely,

Mark Vogelgesang

Dir, Pilot Training

MN Airlines LLC dba Sun Country Airlines