JAA/ICAO

[crazy_bird]

hey guys,
i wanted to know whether the JAA ATPL is "included" in the ICAO ATPL.
this question popped into my head, when i was going through the pilot recruitment pages of some airlines, they said that they wanted ICAO ATPL holders, now i know a FAA ATP holder will be accepted, but what about the license holders of other ICAO contracting states??
moreover, under this criteria of "ICAO ATPL" holder, will a guy having the JAA ATPL be accepted??
thanks a lot :)

[flash8]

short and long answer. Yes.

[crazy_bird]

Yes, for ICAO contracting states or for the JAA ATPL?

[Bealzebub]

From the ICAO website:
ICAO does not issue any licences. Licences issued by ICAO Contracting States on the basis of Standards and Recommended Practices of Annex 1 – Personnel Licensing, are habitually called ICAO licences. This has led many to believe that there is a specific ICAO or international licence. The fact is that there is not one single international licence issued by ICAO or any other organization. States issue their own licences based on national regulations in conformity with Annex 1 specifications and validate licences issued by other Contracting States on the basis of bilateral or multilateral agreements or the fulfilment of nationally legislated requirements.

The JAA is a supranational authority. That is, it is a collection of (European) member states who agree by treaty to provide the authority function to one regulatory body. Each of the member states are signatories to the ICAO.

You would be very hard pressed to find more than a handful of nations who are not ICAO member states, and of those I doubt any issue pilots licenses.

The ICAO sets out minimum specifications and recommended practices that each signatory should conform to. However it is for the states themselves, by virtue of their own national regulations and bilateral and multilateral agreements, to set out their own terms for licence issue and validation.

People often use the term "ICAO licence" to imply a qualification or interchangability, or cross border validation, that in reality often doesn't exist without further assesment.

It is for each state or suprantional authority to set out their own terms whilst conforming to the ICAO minimum standard and best recommended practice.

In truth "ICAO licence" means nothing. Firstly because it doesn't exist as an entity, and secondly because all licences for any meaningful purpose are always issued by ICAO member states.