The FAA released a new Notice to Airmen (Notam) that changes the rules for operation of foreign-registered aircraft weighing less than or equal to 100,309 pounds within U.S. airspace. FDC Notam 5/6289 was issued on December 14, and while the Notam itself is difficult to interpret, Rockwell Collins’s ArincDirect division published a useful explanation of the Notam, available below. 

The first change is that foreign-registered aircraft at or below that weight threshold can now “operate domestic flights within the USA without a TSA waiver,” according to ArincDirect. Above that threshold, aircraft must obtain a TSA waiver or operate under an approved TSA security program; this element has not changed.

The more significant change is that at or below that weight threshold, foreign-registered aircraft “will require a TSA Waiver to fly through U.S. airspace. This includes the Mexico, Canada, Bahamas, Cayman and British V.I. aircraft registries; there is no longer a provision or exemption for them.” There is no change for aircraft above that weight threshold, and the same requirement for a TSA waiver or TSA security program still applies.

The Notam provides no reason behind these changes.