US FAA finds RP unsafe port of origin, downgrades ratingThe United States’ Federal Aviation Administration has found the Philippines to be an unsafe port of origin, downgrading the country from category 1 to category 2, the FAA said on its website.
Countries that fall under category 1 are those which comply with aviation safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), while those that fall under category 2 are those that do not, the FAA said.
In its new
Flight Standards Service-International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA), and released January 8 this year, the FAA included the Philippines in a list of 20 countries that did “not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).”
Category 2 consists of two groups of countries. One includes countries, like the Philippines, which have air carriers with existing operations to the United States at the time of the assessment.
Aside from the Philippines, others in this category are Bangladesh, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia), and Nauru.
While in category 2 status, carriers from these countries will still be allowed to operate at their current levels, but under heightened FAA surveillance.
“Expansion or changes in services to the United States by such carriers are not permitted while in category 2, although new services will be permitted if operated using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised US carrier or a foreign air carrier from a category 1 country that is authorized to serve the United States using its own aircraft,” the FAA said.
Under the second group of countries, or those which do not have existing operations to the US at the time of the assessment, their carriers will not be permitted to start service to the US while in category 2 status, the FAA said.
Countries in this group are Belize, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Gambia, Haiti, Honduras, Kiribati, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Swaziland, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, the FAA said.
They will only be permitted to operate in the US under the same conditions as those given to countries that already operate in the US, that is, “if [they use] aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised US carrier or a foreign air carrier from a category 1 country that is authorized to serve the United States with its own aircraft,” the FAA said.
The FAA said a category 2 rating is applied if one or more of the following deficiencies are identified: The country lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards; the country’s civil aviation authority (CAA) lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations;
The CAA does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel; the CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international standards; and the CAA has insufficient documentation and records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and surveillance of air carrier operations, the FAA said.
When asked how the FAA rating would affect carriers and travellers, Rebecca Thompson, spokesperson of the US embassy in Manila, said the report is directed at the local civil aviation authority, not at the local carriers or the travellers who take the local carriers.
In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net, she confirmed that the FAA rating would limit the expansion of operations of the local carriers from the Philippines in the United States.