Govt rushes to solve air safety woes
28 airlines to undergo stringent inspections
Commercial airlines must send qualified experts to the Command Centre for Resolving Civil Aviation Issues within two weeks to help carry out inspections and certifications of 28 airlines as part of government efforts to address air safety woes.
The US Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday downgraded Thailand’s air safety rating after the country was redflagged in June by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for failing to meet its standards for regulating aviation businesses and granting air operator certificates within a 90-day deadline.
Thailand is also bracing for the results of the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) audit of the country’s aviation safety standards on Thursday.
Thai authorities yesterday held a meeting with executives of 41 commercial airlines, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, to discuss measures to address the problems.
After the meeting, ACM Preecha Pradapmuk, secretary to the command centre set up by the government, said the meeting agreed that the executives from the 41 commercial airlines will be required to submit the lists of personnel qualified to act as check pilots to ensure commercial pilots undergoing evaluation meet flight competency standards.
The lists must be submitted to the command centre within two weeks.
Gen Prawit said the cabinet approved 86 check pilot positions, though the Office of Civil Aviation (OCA) is having difficulty recruiting enough qualified staff.
He also said that experts from abroad will also be hired to help and examine the certifications of airlines in line with ICAO standards.
ACM Preecha said staff from commercial airlines will be asked to help with inspections and certifications for two to three years.
The meeting decided that all parties involved — the command centre, the OCA and the commercial airlines must devise a plan to reissue certifications to 28 airlines that fly internationally to meet the ICAO’s standards, he added.
The 28 airlines have about 414 aircraft awaiting inspections and the air operator certification process is expected to be completed sometime next year, ACM Preecha said.
Somkid Jatursipitak, deputy prime minister overseeing economic affairs, said that pilots play a crucial role in the aviation safety system; therefore all new pilots must undergo reassessment to meet international standards, which requires qualified inspectors.
In light of this, it is necessary to hire foreign experts as well as consultant companies to help with the inspections and evaluations of new pilots, Mr Somkid said, adding that the state budget will be made available to support the move.
Mr Somkid said the 41 commercial carriers have been asked to work together on producing new aviation manuals, adding that stronger airlines have been asked to support weaker ones.
Thai AirAsia chief executive officer, Tassapol Bijleveld, yesterday welcomed the government move to enforce stricter safety rules to address the ICAO’s concerns.
He said if all the measures are implemented as planned, this will help remove the ICAO’s red flag and resolve all air safety problems by August next year as targeted by the government.
A source said that at least seven airlines will send experts to help the government carry out inspections and recertifications of pilots and airlines. They are Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Nok Air, NokScoot and Thai Smile Airways, said the source.
Charoenpong Sornprasit, chief executive officer of NewGen Airways, said private air operators have urged the government to amend complicated regulations such as the slow process of renewing pilot licences.
If government efforts to tackle air safety problems are to succeed by next August, Gen Prayut must invoke more special powers laws to push for quicker solutions, Mr Charoenpong said, adding that private airline operators are willing to comply.
Suppachai Sriprasert, an executive at JT All Co Ltd, a company consulting on technicalities and regulations, and personnel recruitment for airlines, agreed that when there are shortages of qualified personnel to carry out inspections, it is necessary to seek help from experts.
The priority now is to complete the recertification of air operator licences in line with ICAO standards. Bringing in foreign experts is a solution, he said.
Flt Lt Sompong Suksanguan, president of Kan Airlines, said all airlines are ready to comply with the government’s measures to rectify air safety issues and they hope the measures will help solve the problems by August next year.
He also said it is important to improve the competency standards of personnel at the Office of Civil Aviation (OCA).
A source said OCA personnel who are responsible for inspecting and issuing certificates are split into factions and have failed to cooperate to address air safety problems.
This internal conflict had stalled progress in solving the problems over the past six months, the source said, adding that the original plan to hire foreign experts had also met resistance from these people.
In order to fix this problem, these people had to be transferred to make way for personnel from the air force and foreign experts to step in and tackle the air safety issue, the source said.