FAA Issues Design Approval for AIDC Brand 16G Commercial Airline Seats Clearing Entry into International Markets
2019/8/15
The Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition was held on the 15th of August 2019, during which major domestic and foreign aerospace manufacturers participated. On the first day of the event, AIDC, the leading aerospace industry in Taiwan, announced news that its self-developed airline seats have been awarded the Letter of Design Approval (LODA) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States. AIDC Chairman Hu received the LODA certificate from Ms. Shu-ping Ho, Deputy Director General of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). Following receipt of the LODA certificate, Chairman Hu, announced that AIDC had signed a letter of cooperation with Air Asia Chairman Tien-lin Lu, a prominent domestic aircraft maintenance company, and announced the two companies will join hands to promote and develop the market for domestic airline seats.
Chairman Hu said that AIDC first exhibited its own brand of 16G airline seats during the 2017 Taipei Air Show and received the Technical Standard Order Authorization (TSOA) from the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The seat successfully passed dynamic strength tests conducted by the Automotive Research & Testing Center, including the maximum acceleration 14G downward impact and the maximum acceleration 16G forward impact. It was the first domestic airline seat to successfully satisfy strict aerospace certification tests; such as 16G specifications, fire proof and smoke resistance.
Successfully obtaining the FAA’s design approval means AIDC-made airline seats have satisfied international safety and other standards, which marks Taiwan’s entry into the commercial aircraft seat industry with ability to design and manufacture seats for single aisle aircraft and others for sales to foreign commercial airliners or used in the conversion industry for older aircraft. According to the Taiwan-US bilateral aviation safety agreement, as long as the standard parts of the seats are certified by Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), manufacturers are qualified to manufacture and sell their product to U.S. civil aviation entities.
It has been two years since AIDC first launched its own brand of airliner seats and within this period, AIDC had promoted the seat to many global airline and aircraft modification companies through the Taipei Air Show, the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg and the Paris Air Show. AIDC also continues to develop new seat design concepts and considers the views and opinions from all related sectors for possible incorporation into the design to assure its seat meets user quality standards, functional requirements, and comfort expectations. Currently, AIDC is actively cooperating with foreign entities toward improving innovative seat designs as well as expanded use of composite materials to develop a new conceptual economic class seat for single aisle aircraft for both short and long range flights. The airline seats developed by AIDC are designed to meet a variety of specifications, which can accommodate and satisfy the most demanding of customers needs.
Supplemental Information:
The FAA is a U.S. governmental agency that supervises and manages its civil aviation industry and has certain authority in the global aviation industry. In 2009, to improve personnel safety and reduce the degree of injury, the FAA announced that all civil aircraft seats must be changed to 16G seats, which is currently the highest safety standard. According to the Taiwan-US bilateral aviation safety agreement, as long as the standard parts of seats have been certified by the Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), manufacturers are qualified to manufacture and sell their products to U.S. civil aviation entities.
Chairman Hu said that AIDC first exhibited its own brand of 16G airline seats during the 2017 Taipei Air Show and received the Technical Standard Order Authorization (TSOA) from the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The seat successfully passed dynamic strength tests conducted by the Automotive Research & Testing Center, including the maximum acceleration 14G downward impact and the maximum acceleration 16G forward impact. It was the first domestic airline seat to successfully satisfy strict aerospace certification tests; such as 16G specifications, fire proof and smoke resistance.
Successfully obtaining the FAA’s design approval means AIDC-made airline seats have satisfied international safety and other standards, which marks Taiwan’s entry into the commercial aircraft seat industry with ability to design and manufacture seats for single aisle aircraft and others for sales to foreign commercial airliners or used in the conversion industry for older aircraft. According to the Taiwan-US bilateral aviation safety agreement, as long as the standard parts of the seats are certified by Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), manufacturers are qualified to manufacture and sell their product to U.S. civil aviation entities.
It has been two years since AIDC first launched its own brand of airliner seats and within this period, AIDC had promoted the seat to many global airline and aircraft modification companies through the Taipei Air Show, the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg and the Paris Air Show. AIDC also continues to develop new seat design concepts and considers the views and opinions from all related sectors for possible incorporation into the design to assure its seat meets user quality standards, functional requirements, and comfort expectations. Currently, AIDC is actively cooperating with foreign entities toward improving innovative seat designs as well as expanded use of composite materials to develop a new conceptual economic class seat for single aisle aircraft for both short and long range flights. The airline seats developed by AIDC are designed to meet a variety of specifications, which can accommodate and satisfy the most demanding of customers needs.
Supplemental Information:
The FAA is a U.S. governmental agency that supervises and manages its civil aviation industry and has certain authority in the global aviation industry. In 2009, to improve personnel safety and reduce the degree of injury, the FAA announced that all civil aircraft seats must be changed to 16G seats, which is currently the highest safety standard. According to the Taiwan-US bilateral aviation safety agreement, as long as the standard parts of seats have been certified by the Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), manufacturers are qualified to manufacture and sell their products to U.S. civil aviation entities.
