*EPF413 07/08/2004
Text: U.S. Aviation Agency Recognizes International Safety Audit Program
(Decision affects U.S. carriers with code-share partners, FAA says) (570)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that U.S. airlines may use an international safety audit program when they conduct safety audits of their international code-share partners.

In a July 2 news release, the FAA, an agency within the Transportation Department, said it determined that the standards on which the international program is based are "comparable to and consistent with" the FAA's own standards.

The Operational Safety Audit program developed by the International Air Transport Association to accredit airline safety auditing organizations was launched in 2003.

Following is the text of the news release:

(begin text)

Federal Aviation Administration

Press Release

July 2, 2004

FAA Recognizes International Safety Audit Program

WASHINGTON, DC --- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today recognized the safety audit accreditation program developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a program that may be used by U.S. carriers to meet their obligation to conduct safety audits of their code-share partners. The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program is designed to accredit those airline safety auditing organizations that meet an internationally established set of globally recognized airline audit standards. The program was launched last year following two years of intense development by IATA, the airlines and international aviation experts. The FAA has reviewed the IOSA audit standards and determined that they are comparable to and consistent with the FAA's own established standards.

"The United States and its aviation partners around the world share a commitment to improving global aviation safety," said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. "This new audit accreditation program is an important step toward achieving a single international set of audit standards that will make flying safer for passengers here and around the world."

Under IOSA, accredited audit organizations conduct operational safety audits of U.S. and non-U.S. carriers, including those that operate international flights for U.S. airlines under code-sharing agreements. The FAA recognizes the value of uniform audit standards and is prepared to accept U.S. airlines' use of audits performed by IOSA-accredited organizations when submitted as part of the carriers' FAA-accepted code-share safety programs. These audits will fulfill the airlines' responsibility to ensure that code-share carriers meet international safety standards. The use of IOSA will provide U.S. carriers with another tool for meeting the Department of Transportation and FAA code-share audit guidelines that call for foreign code-share partners to undergo periodic safety audits. As always, U.S. airlines must certify the findings of any safety audit, including those performed by organizations accredited under IOSA. As is the case with other audits that meet established FAA standards, IOSA audits will be valid for two years. As a result, U.S. carriers will not have to undertake separate audits of prospective code-share partners if those partner airlines have been audited within that timeframe.

The U.S. carriers relying on the existing IOSA audits will need only to certify their validity to the FAA. Audits performed by organizations not part of the IOSA accreditation program will continue to be recognized by the FAA if they meet the agency's standards, are part of the U.S. airline's FAA-accepted code-share safety program, and are certified by the U.S. airline submitting the results.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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