PAL mounts effort to upgrade PH status

Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 11, 2011
By Paolo Montecillo

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has taken on a proactive stance to ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will lift its ban on local airlines mounting extra flights to the United States.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Lucio Tan-led carrier said it would help the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) implement reforms to convince the FAA to upgrade the Philippines from its “category 2” status.

The “category 2” status from the FAA effectively bans local airlines from expanding operations in the United States. This ruling affects only PAL, which is the sole local carrier that has operations and the capability to fly across the Pacific.

Also, PAL said it had signed a contract with Tim Neel & Associates, LLC (TNA), a US-based aviation consultant owned by former FAA executive Tim Neel, to train and provide technical assistance to the CAAP to help the country regain full compliance with international aviation safety standards.

TNA will also help the CAAP craft a “comprehensive regulatory system, including an electronic database, inspector handbooks and technical guidance, advisory circulars, updates to the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations,” PAL president Jaime Bautista said.

The company hopes TNA will be able to help lift the US ban on local airlines “at the shortest possible time,” Bautista said.

Earlier, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) announced the partnership with TNA.

PAL said it was the first to get in touch with TNA, which agreed to help the Philippine government.

TNA is a company specializing in international aviation safety matters, including the assessment of aviation safety standards in government civil aviation authorities, international air carriers and airports.

The DoTC said this would be part of reforms meant to improve the country’s image and help the aviation industry grow.

The FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 from Category 1 in 2008 after a safety audit was conducted in November 2007. During the audit, the FAA found that some policies of the local aviation sector were below international standards.

The FAA then banned airlines from the Philippines from adding flights to the United States.

One issue was the lack of qualified personnel to carry out procedures meant to ensure the safety of the country’s air transport sector.

Soon after, the European Union also raised significant safety concerns (SSCs) that resulted in the banning of Philippine carriers from landing in European airports.

“(Neel) recently worked in Ghana where he was able to help the local aviation authorities regain their Category 1 rating in just a few months.... We believe he can do the same for the Philippines,” Transportation Undersecretary Glicerio Sicat said.