Air Carrier Oversight
FAA's Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS) provides regulatory oversight of air carriers that hold operations specifications issued in accordance with 14 CFR parts 119 and 121. ATOS helps ensure that the Flight Standards Service and air carriers meet their separate responsibilities in accordance with 49 USC 14 CFR and FAA policy. Title 49 USC empowers the FAA to prescribe regulations and minimum safety standards and requires air carriers to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest.
ATOS is a decision support system for FAA inspectors and managers, and has three primary functions:
- Design assessments ensure that an air carrier meets regulatory requirements and safety standards. These include initial certification program approvals/acceptance, approval/acceptance of new programs and program changes, and periodic program reviews.
- Performance assessments ensure that air carrier operating systems perform as intended by the regulations. These include initial certification proving runs, recurring performance assessments, and evaluations of environmental changes.
- Risk management processes deal with hazards and associated risks that are subject to regulatory control, such as enforcement, certificate amendment, and rulemaking. FAA also uses risk management processes to target resources in accordance with risk-based priorities.
Design and Performance Assessment has eight process modules:
