CAAT receives final evaluation by faa for safety rating upgrade
The FAA is conducting its final evaluation of CAAT's safety improvements. If successful, Thailand's aviation safety rating will be upgraded to Category 1, allowing Thai carriers to resume US flights and expand operations globally. Results will be known in 30 days.
A delegation from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently conducting the final evaluation of safety standard improvements at the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) before deciding whether to reinstate CAAT to the highest safety standard.
ACM Manat Chavanaprayoon of CAAT stated that Dennis Hill, Acting Director of the FAA’s Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance, and his delegation were conducting the so-called “final discussion” at CAAT from Monday to Wednesday. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether CAAT has successfully implemented measures to address the safety concerns identified by the FAA during an assessment in November last year.
Manat mentioned that the results of the final discussion would be available within 30 days.
If the FAA delegation is satisfied with the improvements recommended by the FAA, Thailand’s aviation safety rating will be upgraded from Category 2 (CAT2) to Category 1 (CAT1).
This achievement will allow Thai carriers to resume operations to the United States and expand flight services to other countries that recognise the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme, Manat added.
Manat affirmed that all CAAT units had made their best efforts to address the safety issues highlighted by the FAA to ensure Thailand passes the FAA’s final discussion round and regains CAT1 status.
In 2015, the FAA downgraded Thailand’s safety rating to CAT2 due to its failure to resolve 36 safety concerns within the deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Among the concerns were the CAAT’s legal authority to supervise airlines’ technical capabilities and safety.
The ICAO also found that CAAT lacked a sufficient number of officers to monitor pilots for all types of aircraft operated by airlines in Thailand.
To date, CAAT has addressed all the ICAO’s concerns; however, it is still awaiting FAA endorsement to regain its CAT1 rating.
