101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 5 Cabin crew Cabin crew wishing to operate commercial air transport on an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State must hold an attestation issued, or validated, in an EASA Member State. Cabin crew operating for a commercial air transport operator licensed by the CAA would need to hold a valid Cabin Crew Attestation issued by a CAA approved organisation (an Air Operator Certificate holder or an Approved Cabin Crew Training Organisation). Cabin crew attestations issued by a CAA approved organisation would continue to be valid on a CAA licensed operator. A cabin crew attestation issued prior to exit day in an EASA member state will remain valid by virtue of the Withdrawal Act. Such validity is limited to for up to 2 years after exit day, after which, attestations issued by CAA approved organisations will be required. The European Commission has, however, stated that existing attestations issued by a CAA approved organisation would no longer be valid for use with EU operators after exit day. Cabin crew working for EU operators would need to hold a valid attestation issued in an EU country and may want to check with their employer if this would be necessary. Air traffic controllers Air traffic controllers must be licensed by the CAA in order to work in the UK. Air traffic controller licences valid in the UK before the UK leaves the EU would remain valid after the UK leaves the EU. Established procedures for exchanging licences between states continue to apply until the UK leaves the EU. Training Providers of pilot, air traffic control and maintenance training courses would require an appropriate approval issued by the CAA. Existing training organisation approvals issued by the CAA would remain valid under UK law and approvals issued by an EASA competent authority other than the CAA would remain valid by virtue of the Withdrawal Act. Such validity is limited to up to 2 years after exit day, after which approvals issued by the CAA will be required. In the case of personnel applying to the CAA for licences after the UK leaves the EU, the CAA would give credit for prior training provided to the applicant by a training organisation approved under the EASA system in the same way as the CAA would give credit to such training provided by a training organisation approved by the CAA. However, holders of existing UK-issued approvals should be aware that the European Commission has indicated that such approvals would no longer be valid in the EU after exit day. This means that holders of existing approvals would no longer be able to provide training in support of the award or ongoing validity of licences issued by other EU countries. Aircraft certification In order to ensure the operational safety of aircraft in commercial operations, all aspects of an aircraft’s design, production and maintenance are tightly regulated and certificates are required at each step to ensure the continued airworthiness of those aircraft. The international framework for this is the 1944 Chicago Convention, which establishes specific requirements for the states in which aircraft are designed, manufactured, registered and maintained. Aircraft design The design of all civil aircraft types and variants (for example, an Airbus A320neo) must be certified against an internationally recognised airworthiness code and issued with what is known as a type-certificate. This signifies that the aircraft type is manufactured in accordance with an approved design that complies with safety and environmental standards. Individual aircraft of that type can then be manufactured and given an individual certificate of airworthiness. If in force or effective at exit day, type-certificates and other approvals related to aircraft design would be treated as if issued by the CAA (or, in the case of a maintenance release certificate, by a maintenance organisation approved by the CAA). So, no action would be required from holders of such certificates in the UK. After 29 March 2019, the CAA would take on the functions and tasks of the state of design (as established by the Chicago Convention) for products where the certificate holder is UK based. This means that the CAA would issue and oversee the appropriate type-certificates, environmental certificates and certificates for existing and new products, parts and equipment. The CAA would issue certificates to design organisations in accordance with the rules that have been brought into UK law through the Withdrawal Act. Aircraft production In addition to certificates of airworthiness for individual aircraft, to help ensure the operational safety of aviation, individual parts and appliances are also certified as safe. Certificates and approvals associated with aircraft production issued by the CAA, or under the privileges granted to those organisations, such as certificates of conformity for a whole aircraft or certificates of release to service for new parts, would still be recognised as valid in the UK. Certificates and approvals associated with aircraft production issued by an EASA competent authority and in force before exit day would continue to be valid by virtue of the Withdrawal Act. It would allow the UK to treat such certificates