The Federal Aviation Administration entered formal rulemaking in March 2026 to expand mutual recognition of non-U.S. maintenance organization certificates through bilateral aviation safety agreements. FAA Flight Standards Service General Aviation Group Manager Chris Parfitt announced the move during the Aeronautical Repair Station Association Annual Symposium, describing it as a permissive framework that will allow, but not require, the agency to enter mutual recognition pacts with foreign aviation authorities.
The change addresses a long-standing quirk in U.S. law that limited what international bilateral agreements could legally cover in relation to repair station certification. Under the new rulemaking, the FAA can negotiate with partner countries to accept each other's MRO approvals, streamlining cross-border maintenance work and reducing duplicate certification burdens for globally operating repair stations.
The announcement comes alongside a separate FAA Office of Inspector General audit examining consistency in how regulators interpret and apply policies for repair stations, supplemental type certificates, and technical standards orders. Both developments signal increased regulatory focus on the MRO sector.
Source: Aviation Week -- https://aviationweek.com/mro/safety-ops-regulation/faa-broaden-mutual-recognition-mro-approvals