The FAA’s Airport Compliance Manual is receiving a long overdue update. The agency recently released FAA Order 5190.6B, known as the Airport Compliance Manual, which replaces the 1989 edition. With the new updates, the manual, which provides FAA officials and airport sponsors with guidance on how to comply with federal grant assurances and analyze potential assurance violations, totals nearly 700 pages. That’s up from slightly more than 62 in the 1989 version.
AOPA met with the FAA’s acting associate administrator for airports in September to discuss updates to the manual. As the agency assured AOPA, the manual is open for comment in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted until March 31, 2010, and the FAA has committed to reviewing all submissions to see if the manual needs to be further updated.
“This is a massive rewrite of a very complex technical document melded with federal law,” said Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president of local airport advocacy. “AOPA is carefully, deliberately reviewing each detail in the new manual and will submit comments to the FAA.”
