AFS

- 13

- 449

- E Exemption No. 10947

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2013

- 0605

AEROMEXICO

for an exemption from § 129.117 (e)(1) of Title 14, Code of

Federal Rules

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated June 24, 2013

, Mr. Alberto Castro Luna, Director, Maintenance Programs Engineering, Aeromexico, Aerovlas de México, S.A. de C.V., Av. Fuerza Aérea Mexicana No. 416, Col. Federal, C.P. 15700, Mexico D. F., petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Aer omexico for an exemption from § 129.117 (e)(1) of

Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The proposed exemption, if granted, would

allow an extension of one year for the fifty percent fleet compliance time for installation of Flammability Impact M itigation Means requirement of this section

.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation[s]:

Section 129.117(e)(1) prescribes that f ifty percent of each foreign air c arrier or foreign person's fleet identified in paragraph (e) (1 ) of this section must be modified no later than December 26, 2014.

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Aeromexico is requesting relief from the requirement to install a flammability reduction

means in 50% of its fleet no l ater than December 26, 2014. The petitioner states that additional time to meet this requirement is needed in part because development of the Original E quipment Manufacturer (OEM) modification instructions and fabrication and availability of required parts took more time then originally anticipated; resulting in an 8 month delay. In add ition, the installation of the Nitrogen Generation System (NGS) requires

appr oximately 620 man

- hours for the B

- 737, and 900 man

- hours for t he B

- 777 as estimated by the Design Approval Holder

. The petitioner believes i t is inefficient to schedule the2

modification separate from an airplane's heavy maintenance visit. Optimizing aircraft downtime by performing the modification during a maintenance visit still increases aircraft

do wntime and causes production line saturation.

Aeromexico states that maintenance planning for 2013 and 2014 already included an increase in additional airworthiness requirements, fleet changes (incorporations and lease returns) and cabin reconfigura tions.

Additionally, this year its Maintenance, Repair, Operations/Overhaul (MRO) operation is relocating, which will impact maintenance capacity, and complicate their ability to meet the

rule deadline. The p etitioner state s the requested one year e xtension of the 50% compliance time deadline would help Aeromexico distribute the workload without affecting the 100% compliance time deadline. The additional time granted by the exemption will reduce the impact on its operations and allow for the performa nce of all modifications in house, as opposed to outsourcing. The petitioner also provided extensive data regarding scheduling of airplanes for modification, acquisition of parts, management of the affected fleet, and other planning information to demonst rate its ability to meet both the proposed extended compliance time for 50% of the affected fleet and the regulatory deadline for compliance for

100% of the fleet.

The petitioner states that granting the exemption would be in the public interest. If not granted, it would reduce the availability of aircraft, preventing Aeromexico from providing air transportation . S afety will not be adversely affected by granting the one year exemption as Aeromexico is constantly renewing its fleet, and the airplanes are maintained to meet all the aeronautical authority and manufacturer requirements.

The FAA published , a summary of the petition in the Federal Register on August 28 , 2013,
[ 78FR 53186 ] . No comments were received.

The FAA's analysis is as follows :
The FAA has considered fully the petitioner’s supporting information and has determined that the operation of the affected airplanes is appropriate under the terms and conditions of a temporary exemption.

In 2008 the FAA issued a final rule th at requires operators and manufacturers of transport category airplanes to take steps that, in combination with other required actions, should greatly reduce the chances of a catastrophic fuel tank explosion. The final rule established a performance

- based set of requirements that set acceptable flammability exposure values in tanks most prone to explosion or require the installation of an ignition mitigation means in an affected fuel tank. Specifically, the rule requires operators of certain transport cat egory turbine

- powered airplanes to install a fla mmability reduction means in 50% of the operator’s

fleet no later than De cember 26, 2014, and 100% of its fleet no later than December 26, 2017.3

The FAA recognizes that the petitioner has made a good faith effort to ensure installation of the nitrogen generation system (NGS) in its Boeing 777 and Boeing 737 airplanes to meet the requirements for flammability reduction means. However, as Aeromexico notes development of modification instructions by the Original Equipment Manufacturer, and fabrication and availability of required parts has taken more time than originally anticipated. The petitioner notes and the FAA agrees that the manufacturer issued actions for flammability

reduction means and service bulletins and kits for the NGS were not made available in time to enable modification before the December 26, 2014 deadline. The petitioner has included as part of its petition evidence provided by the manufacturer of existing service bulletins for its

Bo eing 737 and Boeing 777 airplanes as well as engineering and purchase orders for

modification kits and tools.

The petitioner noted and the FAA agrees with Boeing estimates of 620 man

- hours to install

the NGS on its B

- 737 and 900 man

- hours for its B

- 7 77 airplanes. We further agree with the planned maintenance workload which includes related additional airworthiness requirements, fleet changes, cabin reconfiguration changes and planned relocation of the petitioner’s MRO operation which further substanti ates the need for additional time to make the needed safety improvements.

The FAA finds that an add itional year to bring 50% of AeroMexico’s fleet into compliance with the flammability reduction means is warranted; however the exemption does not chan ge the requirement that 100% of AeroMexico’s fleet of airplanes must be modified no later than
December 26, 2017.

The FAA’s Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant t o the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Aeromexico is granted an exemption from

14 CFR § 129.117(e)(1) for a period of one year. This will allow Aeromexico to meet the

50% fleet completion re quirement, subject to the conditions and limitations listed below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. The petitioner must provide its FAA Principal Inspectors

, in a format acceptable to

the A dministrator, a compliance report not less than once every three months (or “quarterly”) . The reporting will start no later than 30 days after the date of this exemption, and continue through the final December 2017 compliance time deadline or when full compliance is achieved, whichever comes first ; 2. The petitioner must include in each report the number of aircraft completed since the last report , the status of all orders and contracts for all parts, DAH provided parts kits, other required supplies, the availability of facilities and qualified labor (including contractors) ; and

, 3. Within 30 days after the grant of this exemption, t he petitioner must provide an updated plan or schedule demonstrating progress in meeting not only this extension,

but also the final December 2017 compliance time deadline. The petitioner must4

continue to provide an updated plan on a quarterly basis until full compliance is

achieved.

4. The deadline for 50% fleet compliance established by § 129.117(e)( 1 ) is hereby

extended to December 26, 2015.

5. T his exemption will not affect the 100% f leet compliance time req uirement of § 129.117(e)( 2 )

. 6. Aeromexico may operate outside the U.S. under this exemption unless otherwise prohibited by a foreign civil aviation authority

This exemption terminates on December 26, 2015 , unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Issued in W ashington, DC , on February 28, 2014

/s/ John Barbagallo Acting Deputy Directo r, Flight Standards Service

.