HEAplus automatically generates and sends the Appeals Pre-Hearing Conference letter to the mailing address entered on the Appeal Request Form page of the application being appealed.

 

A pre-hearing conference is an informal meeting at the FAA office or the Appeals Processing Unit (APU) level. The conference is used to review and explain to the appellant or representative the policy used to justify FAA's eligibility determination.

 

The conference is an optional procedure for the budgetary unit. It is not a requirement that the appellant or representative appear for the conference.

 

The following FAA staff may conduct the pre-hearing conference:

 

 

The pre-hearing conference may be conducted by telephone. An informal conference may be scheduled at the appellant’s or representative’s request, even when a formal hearing request has not been filed.

 

When the hearing request is for denial of NA expedited services, conduct the pre-hearing conference within two workdays(g), unless the appellant or representative is not in agreement or wants to schedule it for a later date.

 

Document the case file(g) with the date and the outcome of a pre-hearing conference when a pre-hearing conference is held.