Context: Recently the aviation safety regulator of the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has retained the “Category 1” status for India’s aviation safety oversight following a review, the agency informed the country’s watchdog on Wednesday.
About FAA
The International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme of the FAA determines whether a country’s oversight of its airlines that operate or wish to operate to the U.S. or enter into codeshare partnerships with U.S. carriers comply with safety standards established by the UN aviation watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
- The IASA programme focuses on three broad areas, which include
- Personnel licensing, operation of aircraft and
- Airworthiness of aircraft.
The FAA conducted the programme over a one-year period which included physical audits and a review.
Performance of India
- In the recent ICAO audit in November last year, India scored an Effective Implementation (EI) of 85.65% from the previous EI of 69.95%.
About ICAO
- It is UN specialised body for the global aviation sector
- ICAO is funded and directed by 193 national governments to support their diplomacy and cooperation in air transport as signatory states to the Chicago Convention (1944).
- Industry and civil society groups, and other concerned regional and international organizations, also participate in the exploration and development of new standards at ICAO in their capacity as ‘Invited Organizations’.
- The ICAO secretariat convenes panels, task forces, conferences and seminars to explore their technical, political, socio-economic and other aspects.
- ICAO also serves as a critical coordination platform in civil aviation through its seven Regional Offices.
- It also conducts educational outreach, develops coalitions, and conducts auditing, training, and capacity-building activities worldwide per the needs and priorities governments identify and formalize.
- Note– ICAO is not an international aviation regulator, just as INTERPOL is not an international police force
Its core function is
- to maintain an administrative and expert bureaucracy
- to research new air transport policy
- to standardize innovations
