AAR has hosted Jackie Black, the FAA’s Division Manager for Aircraft Maintenance, at its Engineering Services and Airframe MRO operations in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he led a safety stand down and joined a roundtable with inspectors and auditors covering regulatory oversight and certification processes.
A REGULATOR ON THE SHOP FLOOR
AAR CORP. hosted Jackie Black, Federal Aviation Administration Division Manager for Aircraft Maintenance, for visits to its Engineering Services and Airframe Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul operations in Greensboro, North Carolina. The visit began at AAR’s Engineering Services facility, which joined the company’s Engineering Services network following the acquisition of Aircraft Reconfig Technologies earlier this year — a transaction AAR reported in its fourth quarter and full year 2026 results in July, and which brought with it an Organization Designation Authorization.
The ODA is the substantive element. It authorises qualified organisations to perform certain certification activities on behalf of the FAA, delegating work that would otherwise require direct agency involvement. For an MRO, holding an ODA shortens the path between an engineering solution and its approval, and it is the capability AAR identifies as strengthening its ability to support customers with specialised engineering and regulatory expertise. The visit gave the Engineering Services team the opportunity to demonstrate how the acquisition has expanded those capabilities.
SAFETY STAND DOWN AND THE CERTIFICATE MANAGEMENT UNIT
Black then visited AAR’s Airframe MRO facility in Greensboro, where he led a site-wide safety stand down. The practice — stepping away from daily operations to discuss safety priorities, share best practice and reinforce culture — is common across the industry, and the session focused on the FAA’s priorities and the shared commitment between industry and regulators. He subsequently joined a roundtable with AAR inspectors, auditors and operational leaders covering regulatory oversight, certification processes and the coordination enabled through AAR’s Certificate Management Unit, which oversees multiple FAA-certificated locations.
AAR notes it is one of only two independent MROs operating under a CMU structure. That arrangement consolidates oversight of several certificated facilities under a single management unit, which allows a network operator to maintain consistent procedures and compliance standards across sites rather than managing each certificate separately — a material consideration for a company with operations in over 20 countries. Art Smith, AAR’s Vice President and Chief Quality Officer, said the team appreciated the opportunity to connect directly with FAA leadership and discuss the shared responsibility for advancing aviation safety, and that such conversations strengthen collaboration and reinforce the culture of safety, quality and compliance.
Source and Images: AAR CORP.
