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The NBAA announced on Oct. 14 that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford will open the expanded "Meet the Regulators" session at NBAA-BACE on Oct. 20. Business aviation has no shortage of regulatory topics this year, with operators evaluating two separate FAA actions. What they are looking for is clarity about where current FAA policy initiatives are headed and whether industry concerns are being heard. The first of the FAA actions is the Sept. 24 proposal to raise the altitudes at which a pilot must don an oxygen mask for commuter and on-demand operations and revise the requirements for general aviation operations in pressurized aircraft. The proposal will not wholly eliminate oxygen equipment requirements, but would change the parameters of when pilots are required to wear the equipment. For Part 135, the proposal moves the mask requirement from above 35,000 feet to above FL410 for two-pilot operations, and from above 25,000 feet to above FL350 for single-pilot operations. For Part 91, airplanes equipped with quick-donning masks would have no longer have FL410 requirements for full-time use. The second action is the FAA's announcement that it will stop issuing and will rescind existing single-pilot exemptions for certain legacy Cessna Citation models originally certificated for two-pilot operation. The program dates to 1984 and includes the Citation I, II, S/II, V, Ultra, Bravo, Encore and Encore+. The notice was published Sept. 28 and took effect on publication. Pilots who relied on endorsements issued under training-provider exemptions were required to stop all single-pilot operations unless the operating aircraft is already certificated for single-pilot use. The agency cited safety concerns, accident data and widespread non-compliance uncovered during a review of the exemption program. In response, NBAA and Citation Jet Pilots (CJP) requested a minimum 90-day pause, arguing that the agency should work with industry on a more targeted solution and provide additional transparency regarding the underlying data. AOPA called on the FAA to reconsider what it described as an all-or-nothing approach and urged the agency to distinguish between compliant and non-compliant operators. For operators, these issues translate directly into how aircraft are flown, staffed, trained and managed. Unlike an AD that sends an airplane to maintenance, these actions affect operating procedures, pilot qualifications and day-to-day flight operations. Why it matters The regulator panel offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from the officials responsible for some of the most consequential policy decisions currently affecting business aviation. With the oxygen-mask proposal still in the comment period (comments are due Nov. 23) and the Citation exemption controversy unresolved, operators are likely to arrive in Las Vegas looking less for presentations and more for indications of where FAA policy is headed next.RELATED STORIES:FAA proposes easing pilot oxygen mask rules; insurers may not followFAA ends single-pilot flying in legacy Citations. Owners need a second pilotCitation II and Bravo owners: what the two-pilot rule will cost