GENEVA The US Federal Aviation Administrations approval today of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is a valuable step in strengthening global safety standards, said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO.
The United States and its aviation partners around the world share a commitment to improving global aviation safety. This new audit accreditation programme is an important step toward achieving a single international set of audit standards that will make flying safer, said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey.
Many governments, including the US Department of Transportation, require their flag airlines to audit foreign code-share partners.Ê The FAAs recognition of IOSA [http://www.faa.gov/apa/pr/2004/july04.cfm] permits U.S. carriers to use the programmes accredited audit organisations to comply with the U.S. audit requirement rather than perform an audit themselves.Ê
ÊIOSA is the worlds only airline safety audit program incorporating globally recognised standards and best practices, Bisignani said.Ê IOSA is available to all airlines and will bring great benefits by confirming the thoroughness of operational structures and enhancing code-share opportunities.ÊÊ
Bisignani noted that airlines in the US and elsewhere will be spared performing redundant audits of prospective code-share partners provided those partners hold upstanding IOSA audits, which are valid for two years.Ê To make IOSA as accessible as possible to all airlines, IATA is absorbing the programmes operating costs in 2004.
IOSA creates the first global industry benchmark for safety while removing the inefficiency of repetitive auditing, he said.Ê Todays announcement is not only an approval but a validation of the joint commitment by FAA and IATA to improving global aviation safety.Ê
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