U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

Mr. Nicolas Finazzo ChiefExecutive Officer AerSale 121 Alhambra Plaza Suite 1700 Coral Gables, FL 33134 MAR -4 2015 Office ofthe Chief Counsel 800 Independence Ave., SW. Washington, DC 20591

Re: Request for Interpretation onWhether 14 C.P.R.§ 145.103(b) Requires a Repair Station with a Limited Airframe Rating to Have Housing Large Enough to Enclose the Largest Aircraft Listed onits Operations Specifications

Dear Mr. Finazzo:

This letterresponds to your October 9, 2014 request for a legal opinion onthe applicability ofthe housing requirement in 14 C.P.R. § 145.103(b) to an FAA-cetiificated repair stationholding a limited airframe rating. You state that your company, AerSale, holds anFAA-issued air agency certificate, which authorizes it to operate as a repair station with, among other things, a limited airframe rating. AerSale's limited airframe rating includes, by reference to its FAA-accepted Capability List, Boeing Model 747 aircraft listed on the company's Operations Specifications. You asked for an advisory opinion onthe question: "Must a FARPart 145 Repair Station holding a Limited Airframe Rating have a hangar to house the largest aircraft onits Operations Specifications ifthe maintenance it is authorized to do under its Capability List onits largest aircraft do not require such workbe performed inside a hangar?" The answer is yes. Because a limited airframe rating is an airframe rating, AerSale must have a hangar to enclose a Boeing Model 747 because that is the largest aircraft listed on AerSale's operations specifications.

Section 145.103(b) provides:

A certificated repair station with an airframe rating must provide suitable permanent housing to enclose the largest type and model ofaircraft listed

on its operations specifications.

To the extent that AerSale suggests that § 145.103(b) applies only to a repair stationholding a class airframe rating issued under§ 145.59(a), thereby excluding a repair station with a limited airframe rating issued under§ 145.61 from the reach oftheregulation, the FAA does not agree.Nothing inthe regulatory history or the plain language ofthe regulation supports a conclusion that the airframe rating of§ 145.103(b) applies only to class airframe ratings and excludes limited airframe ratings.

In support ofyour positionthat a repair stationholding a limited airframe rating is not required 2

to provide a hangar large enough to enclose the largest aircraft on its operations specifications (in AerSale's case a Boeing Model 747), you referenced a statement inthe agency's denial ofan exemptionrequest that addressed this issue: In the matter of thepetition of ShortBrothers PLC [Shorts], DocketNo. FAA-2009-0084. The FAA's denial oftherequested exemption found that what Shmis soughtto do did not require relieffrom§ 145.103(b), but instead could be permitted under a differentregulation that was more directly onpoint-§ 145.203, which permits a repair station to performmaintenance at a place otherthan its fixed location ifthe repair stationmeets the criteria ofthat section. Accordingly, under the facts presented, Shorts did not need an exemption from the housing requirement or any otherregulation. While the Shorts denial appeared to distinguish between repair stations that hold only a limitedairframe rating and those that hold a class airframe rating for purposes ofa § 145.103(b) analysis, this discussion distinguishingbetween a limitedairframe rating and a class airframe rating was dicta-not necessary for the agency's decision-and itreflected an incorrect interpretation ofthe agency's regulation.

This response was prepared by EdmundAverman and BenjaminBorelli, attomeys inthe Regulations Division in the Office ofthe ChiefCounsel, and coordinated with the Aircraft Maintenance Division (AFS-300) inthe Flight Standards Service. Ifyouhave additional questions regarding this matter, please contact us at your convenience at (202) 267-3073.