Application for an Operating Certificate (125.21)

WebOPSS, DCS, eAIM, OAPS Overview

The Web-based Operations Safety System (WebOPSS) is a mission-critical, regulatory system
that develops, records, and tracks safety authority from the FAA and economic authority from
the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) granted under Title 49 United States Code
(USC) and required for all commercial air operators and air agencies. WebOPSS uses a
sophisticated, custom-developed suite of applications to do the following:
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Distribute regulatory and aviation policy requirements to the aviation community in real
time and provide a method for quality control and oversight of air operators and air
agencies.

•

Allow the FAA to monitor air operator and air agency compliance with safety,
operations, and economic authority policies, procedures, and regulations.

•

Provide information retrieval and decision support components to help meet the FAA’s
oversight requirements for aviation safety.

Operations specifications (OpSpecs), management specifications (MSpecs), training
specifications (TSpecs), and letters of authorization (LOA) developed and issued through
WebOPSS are further required by Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). Most
notably, 14 CFR 119.49(a) states that, “all certificate holders must obtain operations
specifications.” The regulations also state that a person engaged in operations governed by
OpSpecs may not conduct those operations either without OpSpecs or in violation of the
appropriate OpSpecs.
WebOPSS includes the tools to develop and modify regulatory document templates for
regulatory documents including but not limited to OpSpecs, MSpecs, TSpecs and LOAs, based
on both existing system data and new data required for the documents. WebOPSS enables the
template designer to link information that will be entered into the template to its data repository
using a variety of data types. The air operator and agency documents are based on these
common templates of regulatory forms. There are currently over 1,000 active document
templates, 200,000 issued and active legal documents, and more than 1.7 million active and
archival legal records maintained in WebOPSS.
Operations approval is a fundamental requirement for use of a flight procedure. WebOPSS is the
system used to issue OpSpecs, MSpecs, TSpecs, LOAs and other legal documents which record
the conditions and limitations of an air carrier certificate and other regulatory obligations of air
carriers and air agencies. The Operations Approval Portal System (OAPS) is being implemented
to track or record the background, data, or decision-making that may result in an operations
approval and authorized through WebOPSS. In addition OAPS has the abilities for workflow
assignments, workflow tracking, bundling procedures for a single approval, or fast-tracking
approvals. OAPS includes tools for template designers to build new applications for approval
and to process approval memos signed with a digital certificate.
WebOPSS tools also include those tools that approve grants of exemption to the regulations and
that collect and maintain certificates of aircraft accident liability insurance (OST Forms 6410 and
6411) and Air Taxi Registration and Amendments under 14 CFR Part 298 (OST Form 4507)
used to document economic authority required by Title 49 USC. OPSS Insurance HQ

application currently used to process and manage economic authority and insurance information
is being replace by the new Economic Authority and Insurance Management system (eAIM).
eAIM will enhance the existing functionality provided by the WebOPSS insurance structure and
reduce manual processing. eAIM will provide an interface to external users, operators and
insurance personnel, to complete and submit OST Forms 4507, 6410, and 6411.
Each document issued in WebOPSS constitutes a legally binding contract between the FAA and
the air operator or air agency. The documents are digitally signed by the FAA inspector in
WebOPSS with an X.509-compliant digital certificate. Some air operators and agencies are
direct “Industry Users” of the system. This helps the FAA by reducing the workload of
managing the document content and helps these air operators and agencies control and update
their information. These users also have digital certificates using the same X.509-compliant
digital certificate solution that the FAA uses to digitally sign the documents. WebOPSS stores
these documents as signed and legally binding, electronic documents. Digital certificates are
issued and managed through the online Digital Certificate Service (DCS).
The primary users of WebOPSS include the Flight Standard Service (AFS) local offices, regional
offices, international offices, headquarters offices, and the Technical Programs Branch
(AFS-260), which manages all system content. In addition to the AFS offices, other users
include the Washington Operations Center (WOC), Aerospace Medicine (AMA), Aircraft
Certification Service (AIR), Air Traffic Organization (ATO), Office of Rulemaking (ARM), US
Air Force Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service
(AOV), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Department of Transportation
(DOT).
WebOPSS contains indispensable data regarding the conditions, limitations, and means of
regulatory compliance for air operator or agency operations. WebOPSS provides standard and
custom reports that are available to federal users of the system. Policy makers from FAA, DOT,
and TSA use WebOPSS data as the basis and support for critical aviation safety decisions and
rulemaking efforts. WebOPSS data is also used to respond to FAA and National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) safety recommendations, General Accounting Office (GAO) aviation
safety audits, and economic analysis in support of aviation safety rulemaking.