Category 1: An elusive dream?

I am hoping that the information I got is totally wrong. But I checked it with one other source and I was told it could well be true. That is bad news for me as a Filipino because that means my government failed a crucial international test.

The fact that CAAP had been eerily quiet about the results of the FAA assessment conducted on Jan. 17-24, 2014 seems to indicate that all is not well. But when I texted Sec. Jun Abaya, he said they are still awaiting the FAA report due in a month. So there is hope.

If things do not turn out to be what we had hoped, it is not for lack of trying on the part of senior CAAP officials. I can almost feel their sense of frustration. They are handicapped by inadequate budgets, government rules on procurement and salary grades and what some aviation experts told me is a badly written CAAP Charter passed by Congress or RA 9497.

One senior CAAP official vowed to resign if we fail to get FAA Category 1 upgrade, but I wonder what good will that do now. That only means we will lose one more dedicated public servant who already knows what to fix.

One other reliable source of mine talked of “some confusing rules and regulations” which the FAA auditors saw. My source told me that “RA 9497 ties the hands of CAAP with provisions whose intent and meaning are not clear or cannot be properly interpreted even by lawyers. Some items negatively noted by the FAA inspectors, I believe are due to CAAP organizational structure dictated by RA 9497 which handicaps management.”

The FAA audit uses a standardized checklist that groups the ICAO Standards on safety oversight into eight critical elements: (1) Primary aviation legislation, (2) specific operating regulations, (3) organization structure and safety oversight functions, (4) technical personnel qualification and training, (5) technical guidance, (6) certification personnel and procedures, (7) surveillance obligations, and (8) resolution of safety issues.

To achieve Category 1, the country must demonstrate that it meets the ICAO standards for each of the eight elements. Category 2 means that the CAAP was noncompliant in at least one critical element.

Let me just go through the more critical findings of the FAA audit which appears to doom any upgrade soon.

Checklist No. 4 covers formal training policy and program for operations and airworthiness. My principal source said the inspectors did not find sufficient On the Job Training (OJT). The required OJT for operations and airworthiness inspectors detailed in Chapter 6 of the CAAP training manual does not cover all job responsibilities.

Another finding in Critical Element No. 4 noted that none of the CAAP operations inspectors have completed recurrent training other than the aircraft specific flight training. This applies to inspectors in all areas of CAAP.

The FAA inspectors are talking of recurrent training that is different from flight training. Whatever it is…we are halfway, the source said. The recurrent training should be taking place. That is a good thing but also a hard thing, the source admits.

Another finding in Critical Element No. 4 is that the CAAP Airmen Examination Board (AEB personnel) is not trained to prepare, administer and evaluate written theoretical examination. Records indicate that only one out of nine employees has four initial trainings. There is no evidence of having correct training and none have completed CAAP’s development course.

Still in Critical Element No. 4, FAA inspectors found out that CAAP airworthiness inspectors do not receive sufficient training. Newly hired airworthiness inspectors have not completed the required large aircraft training on all types of aircraft operating in their assigned region within the required six months.

For Critical Element No. 5, the first finding is that CAAP technical guidance does not provide inspectors with the standards to utilize methods in the issuance of the Air Operator’s Certificate. The guidance provided in the AOC administration manual by AOC A3 Job Aid 80E-003 and the guidance provided in operations inspector’s manual by Job Aid Ops-028A, Ops-028B, and Ops-028C is in conflict.

The last finding in Critical Element No. 5 talks of the CAAP airworthiness technical guidance not having complete policies, procedures, and standards. In addition, there is a conflict in regulatory requirements and technical guidance for air operator’s applicant requirements. The CAAP AOC advisory circulars and AOC administration manual are not consistent in their requirements.

The first finding in Critical Element No. 6 is about the AOC certification for magnum skyjet not containing all of the required items because of the conflicting guidance materials. There are other findings related to deficiencies in how Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines are being checked for various technical compliance requirements.

The rest of the findings paint a picture of a Philippine civil aviation regulatory institution that is unable to live up to its task in a world class fashion. My only consolation here is that we can depend on our bigger airlines to properly maintain their fleet and manage their operations according to world class standards. At the very least, their insurance companies and their competitors give them no choice.

This finding is telling us not to risk it with smaller airlines and general aviation. Recall how the Jesse Robredo plane crash was about CAAP failure to properly regulate.

I have no idea how our government will address this apparent failure of CAAP to measure up for the nth time. The failure is also bad for our national ego and reinforces the national image of a third world country with a dysfunctional government that cannot deliver.

But how come the Europeans gave us a passing mark using the same ICAO criteria? Were the American nitpicking? Maybe my information is wrong and the Americans will give us a passing mark too in spite of those deficiencies noted.

Getting that Category 1 upgrade is a must for our flag carrier Philippine Airlines and to a lesser degree for Cebu Pacific. PAL’s business recovery plan which includes a massive refleeting program, is based on the assumption that the aging and gas guzzling 747’s can be replaced by the 777s. PAL is also looking to fly to more US cities. If we fail to get that upgrade, the airline can be in serious trouble.

Where do we go from here? P-Noy must now give this problem his top attention. The President must get his allies in Congress to fix the CAAP Charter based on the FAA findings.

CAAP must also find a way to attract some of our bright young professionals to consider a career in its technical staff. The dependence on retired PAL pilots is a stop gap measure.

If there is need to exempt CAAP technical staff from the usual civil service salary grades, we just have to do so.

Or maybe, we ought to check if it is possible to just outsource all those critical functions to an international contractor. Perhaps, part of the mandate is for the contractor to train CAAP staff so that we can eventually be on our own. I heard that’s what Indonesia did to help its flag carrier, Garuda.

In the meantime, P-Noy must put Ambassador Joey Cuisia to work and use political intervention in Washington DC to at least allow PAL to change their 747s to 777s. Both models are after all, manufactured by an American company and PAL has shown its continuing ability to use the 777s in its Canadian, Australian and European runs. The FAA ban on changing aircraft model makes no sense in terms of economy and safety.

What has happened to CAAP should be a good lesson for us that we cannot just go on with “puede na”. Some things demand the highest standards and this is rightly so for civil aviation. I can see that the senior CAAP officials have done all they can to achieve their mission but still fell short because they are limited by our system and our laws.

I am still hoping that this information I got is wrong and that the last FAA mission, despite some findings, found us generally compliant. But hoping has its limits. If the stark reality says otherwise, we just have to face it and move on.

A text message

Here is something I picked up from my Facebook newsfeed.

A man received text message from his neighbor:

“Sorry sir, I am using your wife... day and night... when you are not present at home... in fact more than you; I confess because I feel very much guilty... Hope you will accept my sincere apologies.”

... so the man shot his wife...

A few minutes later he received another message: “Sorry, sir, spelling mistake... wi fi. Not wife. Damn autocorrect.”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco