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MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Tuesday asked Congress to pass immediately the bill creating the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to improve aviation safety in the country.
The DOTC made the appeal after the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded the Philippines? aviation safety rating to Category 2 from the ideal Category 1.
The downgrade reflected the FAA?s assessment that the Philippines? Air Transportation Office (ATO) did not meet six of the seven safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organizations (ICAO).
Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza said in a statement that the CAAP bill, otherwise known as the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, would help local aviation regulators improve compliance with ICAO standards.
National flag-carrier Philippine Airlines, which is the only airline in the country that flies to the US, urged the government to push for passage of the CAAP bill.
?Perhaps the Office of the President could designate it as a priority bill. Being able to operate as a corporation would really improve ATO?s ability to improve and to respond to industry changes,? PAL president Jaime Bautista said in an interview.
The CAAP bill, which was passed by the House and the Senate but needs to be fine-tuned in the bicameral conference committee before it could be signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, aims to convert the ATO into a corporate entity so that it could use its own revenue to improve efficiency and enforcement, which was one of the deficiencies noted by the FAA.
In the meantime, Mendoza said, the government ?will tap its available resources to ensure the lifting of the Category 2 rating of the FAA.?
On its website, the FAA describes a country given a Category 2 rating as one that lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards.
It also lacks the technical expertise, resources and organization to license air operations; it does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel, and does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of minimum standards.
PAL?s Bautista on Tuesday ?expressed concern about the negative effect? of the downgrade on the carrier?s expansion plans.
While he assured continuous operations to the US, Bautista said plans to fly new routes to San Diego, Chicago, New York and Saipan, a US territory, could be held up.
PAL?s plan to acquire new aircraft to fly new trans-Pacific routes could also be affected, he said.
?We hope the ATO will soon be able to rectify the assessed deficiencies in its air safety oversight functions so that the country can revert to Category 1,? Bautista said.
For his part, ATO officer in charge Daniel Dimagiba said the agency had enlisted the help of five ICAO experts to assist it in measuring up to FAA and ICAO standards.
Airport officials had said the rating did not apply to Philippine airports as the FAA?s program does not include an assessment of airport safety and security. With a report from The Associated Press
