Following significant gains in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) believes the foundation has been laid for Guyana to attain Category 1 status from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and preliminary discussions have started.
GCAA Director General Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Egbert Field yesterday explained that the agency has commenced discussions with the FAA on what needs to be done for the country to attain the Category 1 status and the US body has signalled its willingness to assist.
“They responded and did say they are willing to assist us to move into or to attain Category 1 status. To do that, they are willing to send a team as soon as we give them the ‘ok’ to assess our situation, to assess where we are so that if there are any gaps, we can fill them but we are at a level now that we can move towards talking to the FAA about Category 1,” Field yesterday said during a press conference held at the GCAA headquarters.
However, Field explain-ed that while this is a goal the GCAA would like to see be achieved, it will not be pushing for it. Field said that in order for the Category 1 status to work, an airline needs to be based here and flying between the US and Guyana.
On this note, he stated once an airline indicates its intention of doing so, the GCAA will move forward with the application for the Category 1 status.
“We will do that as soon as an airline gives us the indication that they want to base themselves here. Moving to acquire Category 1 is a commendable effort but if you do not have an airline, in the space of 60 to 90 days you lose Category 1 if you don’t use it, so you just have to have an airline based in your country to utilise that Category 1 rating,” the GCAA head explained further.
At the conclusion of an ICAO Coordinated Valida-tion Mission (ICVM) audit, Guyana achieved a score of 76.96%, up from the score of 65.22% from the last audit conducted in 2016, Field announced yesterday at the press conference.
The audit was conducted under the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach at the request of the GCAA.
“Usually, the ICAO would schedule an audit for its 193 member states… However, in this instance, the GCAA requested the ICVM from the ICAO which is testimony to the assiduous and voluminous work done by the staff at the authority…,” Field added.
Reading from a statement, Field explained that the audit assessed seven critical elements of the operations. The areas assessed were Aviation Legislation and Civil Aviation Regulations, Civil Aviation Organisation, Personnel Licensing and Training, Air Navigation Services, Aircraft Opera-tions, Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, and Aerodromes and Grounds Aids.
With its results, Guyana has positioned itself as the fourth ranked country in the CARICOM region for effective implementation of the ICAO SARPs and well above the global standard of 65%.
Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Belize are the countries positioned above Guyana in the rankings.
According to Field, during a post-audit brief, the ICAO team audit team, which was in the country between January 14 and January 21, found that the GCAA was on the right path and only needed to continue. He said it also found that the 2018 Civil Aviation Act is one of the best laws seen in the North and Central American region and can be used as a model by other states. It was also stated that Guyana has one of the best Air Navigation Services (ANS) inspectorates in the world and the best in the Caribbean Region, he said.
Field noted that this achievement is the testimony to the work done by his staff, who was described as passionate about their work by the audit team. The GCAA head stated further that “the accomplishments and progress came as a result of the dedicated work by staff working beyond normal working hours and on weekends with the National State Safety Programme Coordinator, Colonel (retired) Cargill Kyte, who is also the GCAA’s Safety Management System Coordinator.
