The Federal Aviation Administration is exempt from the Small Business Act and the SBA’s size regulations, but this does not mean that the SBA’s ostensible subcontractor affiliation rule does not apply in FAA procurements.
In a recent decision, the FAA’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition applied the ostensible subcontractor rule–and SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals decisions interpreting that rule–in arriving at the conclusion that a contract awardee was an eligible small business.