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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
President Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday signed into
law the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Act of 2008
which will help upgrade the country’s aviation industry following
a downgrading by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the
Philippines’ safety rating in January.
“Thanks to this new law . . . the air travel
in this country will be liberalized and the obstacles to the entry
of tourists and investment will be removed,” Mrs. Arroyo.
Two months ago, the FAA found the Philippines to
be an unsafe port of origin, and downgraded the country’s rating
in its international air safety assessment.
The FAA included the Philippines in a list of 21
countries that failed to “provide safety oversight of its air
carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight
standards established by the International Civil Aviation
Organization [ICAO].”
The ICAO is an organization under the United
Nations whose concern is aviation safety.
In its new Flight Standards
Service-International Aviation Safety Assessment released January 8,
the FAA downgraded the country’s rating from category 1 to
category 2.
Countries that fall under category 1 are those
which comply with ICAO aviation safety standards, while those that
fall under category 2 do not.
To replace ATO
The new Civil Aviation Authority of the
Philippines will replace the Air Transportation Office (ATO), which
has been blamed for the downgrading by the US authorities.
“With the passage of this law, we are
confident that the US FAA can have a review of our system and come
up with a better rating for civil aviation in the Philippines,”
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
The new aviation authority will be allowed to
retain earnings from its fees and set its own salaries for
employees. It can then address the FAA’s concerns by spending more
on safety upgrades and offering competitive salaries to retain
skilled personnel. Under the ATO, the money collected from fees went
to the government.
Industry leaders now hope the country’s safety
status could be raised within four months. National carrier
Philippine Airlines earlier said it may lower its 2008 growth
targets due to the FAA’s rating, effectively putting its expansion
plans on hold.
The FAA decision prohibits PAL from increasing
its flights to the US from 33 a week and from changing the type or
number of aircraft used on those services.
-- With AFP
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