Sponsors (8)
The bill trades faster, more predictable aircraft certification and increased FAA transparency — supporting industry innovation and U.S. aerospace competitiveness — against higher administrative costs, potential diversion of FAA resources, reduced legal oversight, and elevated safety and equity risks if speed and industry-standard reliance outpace careful oversight.
Aircraft manufacturers, applicants, airlines, and related small businesses get clearer, consistent certification timelines, criteria, and means-of-compliance, reducing uncertainty and shortening approval times for new and novel aircraft and components.
Congress, industry, and the public gain more FAA transparency and accountability through public reporting and posting of delegation and certification guidance, enabling oversight of missed timelines and corrective actions.
Broader use of industry consensus and performance‑based standards and converting stable issue papers into policy/advisory circulars creates more stable, predictable regulatory requirements that can reduce repetitive reviews and speed approvals.
Transportation workers, passengers, and surrounding communities face higher safety, noise, or privacy risks if imposed timelines and pressure to speed approvals lead FAA staff or industry to prioritize speed over thoroughness for complex or novel systems.
Taxpayers and applicants may shoulder higher administrative and compliance costs as the FAA implements new processes, staffing, reporting, and converts issue papers into formal guidance, and industry may face transitional compliance costs.
FAA staff time and resources could be diverted to meeting frequent reporting and 180‑day conversion deadlines, creating bottlenecks and reducing resources available for oversight and substantive certification work.
Based on analysis of 12 sections of legislative text.
Directs the FAA to publish improvement plans, set standard certification timelines, define issue-paper criteria, update delegation guidance, and report progress to Congress.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Troy E. Nehls · Last progress February 12, 2026
Requires the FAA to increase transparency and predictability in aircraft type and supplemental type certification by publishing a public improvement plan, setting standard timelines for major certification milestones, defining clear criteria for creating and retiring “issue papers,” updating delegation guidance for certification work, and reporting progress to Congress. It also expresses a non-binding sense that the U.S. should support advanced air mobility and clarifies that the new timelines do not create private legal rights or permit judicial review of FAA compliance.