The Aircraft Maintenance Division has all maintenance responsibility for AFS, which in turn has all aircraft maintenance responsibility for the Office of Aviation Safety (AVS), which ultimately has all aircraft maintenance responsibility for the FAA. The Flight Standards Service promotes safe air transportation by setting the standards for certification and oversight of airmen, air operators, air agencies, and designees. AFS-300 promotes safety of flight of civil aircraft and air commerce by performing the following actions:

• Advises the agencies’ officers and executives, and other principal officials, and serves as a point of contact for the public and the aviation community on technical matters appropriate to the national level
• Assigns special technical projects, recommends priorities, and provides broad policy and program guidance to ensure the adequacy of maintenance program activities performed by the Regulatory Support Division
• Determines the need for, justifies, and formulates new or amended regulations and supplementary regulatory material
• Participates in regulatory review programs
• Recommends grants or denials of exemptions
• Develops maintenance operations specifications (OpSpecs)
• Determines the need for and sponsors research and development projects
• Develops and recommends national policies, standards, systems, procedures, and program plans
• Develops, coordinates, and issues national directives to provide technical guidance on policies and procedures
• Develops standards, policies, and procedures for examining and appointing private persons to act as representatives of the Administrator, under the provisions of Title 49 of the United States Code (49 USC), sections 44702 and 45303, with respect to the maintenance and continued airworthiness of civil aeronautical products
• Establishes policies and procedures and recommends final action on granting or denying deviations under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 119 for Directors of Maintenance and Chief Inspectors
• Establishes policies and procedures and recommends final action on granting or denying exemptions under 49 USC, section 44711, to foreign airmen who are directly in charge of inspection maintenance, overhaul, or repair of aircraft, aircraft ongoing propellers, appliances, or components.
• Guides and assists other divisions, the regions, and other elements of the agency in the conduct of related programs, and provides guidance on applying agency policies, standards, and procedures pertaining to safety issues
• Recommends final action on any petition for reconsideration or original issuance, amendment, or denial of OpSpecs pertaining to maintenance or continued airworthiness of aircraft
• Recommends final action on requests for reconsideration or original issuance, amendment, or denial of a maintenance airman or air agency certificate
• Recommends, initiates, and coordinates regulatory and policy action to resolve safety problems resulting from accidents, incidents, or other sources
• Represents the service in developing international agreements, arrangements, policies and practices involving maintenance of civil aircraft and certification of foreign airmen and air agencies

The Division also has the human factors responsibility for all aspects of the list of actions above. The technical and managerial lead for Maintenance Human Factors is delegated to the Air Carrier Maintenance Branch (AFS-330). While this branch focuses on air carrier maintenance policy, guidance, and regulations, an individual within this branch also is assigned the added responsibility of handling maintenance human factors issues. The AFS-330 lead is heavily supported by AVS through the Chief Scientist and Technical Advisor for Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance Systems (CSTA-MxHF). The combination of one person from AFS-330 and the CSTA-MxHF currently accomplish the majority of Maintenance Human Factors activities for AFS-300. These personnel are supported by a technical/contracts manager from the Air Traffic Organization Operations Planning Research and Development (ATOP-R&D). In most cases, technical support for activities is provided, under contract, through universities, government labs, and other private contractors.

Aviation Maintenance human factors research has the overall goal to identify and optimize the factors that affect human performance in maintenance and inspection. The focus initiates on the technician but extends to the entire engineering and technical organizational and all personnel involved in the endeavor. Research attention to personnel can include selection, qualification, training, motivation, health, professionalism, and the variety of human capabilities and limitations that affect efficient and safe maintenance task performance. The research considers many aspects of the work environment including both the physical and social aspects of the organization. The complexity of technical communication is an example of such research. The diversity of maintenance and inspection activity is unlimited. Thus the research attends to each and every action preformed by individuals, teams, departments, and the collective organization. With a view of people, the environment in which they work, and the actions they perform a final focus is on the resources necessary for efficient and safe work. Research related to resources includes studies on the design of documentation and procedures, selection of tools, equipment, buildings, applications of advanced technologies for maintenance and inspection. The maintenance human factors research combines critical basic scientific understanding of human performance with applied studies conducted in cooperation with industry partners. The results are solid and proven science, psychology, and engineering delivered in plans, procedures, software, and even hardware that can be immediately implemented to affect efficiency and safety.