The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Aviation chiefs yesterday pledged to double The Bahamas’ compliance score after global regulators found it had implemented less than one-third of the required “safety oversight” regime.

Captain Charles Beneby, the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority’s director-general, told Tribune Business that his agency was “working feverishly” to plug the numerous gaps identified in time for the next International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit in early 2021.

The last ICAO report, which has been obtained by this newspaper, reveals that The Bahamas had only properly implemented 32 percent of the “critical elements of a safety oversight system” for the aviation industry with deficiencies found in all eight key areas.

The report, which effectively “downgraded” The Bahamas from 56.98 percent compliance pre-audit, found it had implemented just 2.5 percent of its aviation industry “surveillance”, and 15.97 percent of its “licensing, certification and authorisation”, obligations.

Similar low scores were achieved on the “resolution of safety issues”, where The Bahamas was found by ICAO’s team to be just 11.76 percent compliant, and on “qualified technical personnel”, where it gained a 36 percent ranking.

It fared better on the quality of its aviation legislation and “state systems and functions”, which both scored in the 50 percent range, and achieved its highest compliance rating of 61.06 percent for “specific operating regulations”.

Captain Beneby said the latest report, which was published in April 2018 following an 11-day ICAO mission to The Bahamas in October-November 2017, had caught the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) when it was “transitioning” from a government entity to a standalone regulator.

As a result, he argued that the BCAA “didn’t have sufficient time” to show ICAO that The Bahamas had implemented more of the necessary safety standards than allowed for by a report that has not been publicly disclosed until now.

The BCAA chief acknowledged that it was critical for an aviation-dependent economy such as The Bahamas to “meet the standard” for industry “safety and security”, otherwise tourist-related travel and commercial cargo operations could be impacted.

He revealed that the regulator had hired the Aviation Registry Group (ARG), the company also charged with developing a Bahamian aircraft registry, to work with it in identifying the shortcomings flagged by the ICAO report and correct all weaknesses.

Legislative reforms, especially a revised Civil Aviation Act, will form the “centrepiece” of efforts to tackle ICAO’s concerns with Captain Beneby promising it will focus on “making it easier for the industry to come into compliance” and thereby obtain greater private sector buy-in to what the regulator is seeking to achieve.

Voicing optimism that The Bahamas will show major improvement by the time ICAO assessors land again in the 2021 first quarter, he added that the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority had set an “aggressive” timeline to have all legislative and infrastructure-type upgrades in place by mid-2020 so that they had six months to bed-in before the audit.

Acknowledging that the regulator faces “a fight” to meet these deadlines, Captain Beneby said it was aiming to achieve a 65 percent “effective implementation” score at the next audit - effectively ‘doubling’ the present 31.98 percent safety oversight compliance rating.

“I’m very confident that we will certainly do better than where we are now,” he told Tribune Business of the upcoming audit. “That’s a no brainer. We have greater expectations. There’s a kind of regional level of acceptance that we hope to achieve, and that happens at the 65 percent implementation level.

“I think we’re well on the way. I don’t want to give a number or percentage, but we are working feverishly to show we have the legislation implemented and the changes required. If the audit is taking place in the 2021 first quarter, that means we need to be ready by mid-2020 with the legislation and infrastructure items, and then go out and execute on those.”

Asked whether The Bahamas will be able to meet those timelines, Captain Beneby added: “We want to give ourselves six months [before the audit]. I think so. It’s a fight, but I think so.”

He revealed that The Bahamas had bought itself more time to meet ICAO’s standards by successfully “rescheduling” the audit for early 2021 - a move that was supported by the global regulatory body’s head/regional offices in Montreal and Canada.

“I can say that is true,” Captain Beneby confirmed. “The Bahamas government requested a reschedule of the audit, which would have been a kind of validation mission where they [ICAO] would come in to test the steps taken to address the findings of the audit.

“That has been rescheduled for the first quarter of 2021. We are very actively and aggressively working to implement a number of changes that allow us to be able to address these findings. No matter what we do, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. They will be looking to see we have implemented the changes we have made.”

Acknowledging that the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority functions as the “guardian” of the whole Bahamian oversight regime, Captain Beneby added that the last ICAO audit caught it just one year after it was created at a time when it was still finding its legs.

“We were established in 2016. The audit took place in 2017,” he noted. “We were still in a state of transition. We functioned somewhat differently as a government department. This is a standalone body doing what it’s supposed to be doing.

“There are still some initiatives that have to happen but we are further down the road than we were in 2017. What we were not able to show was the implementation that was so necessary as we simply did not have sufficient time.”

Revealing that the Authority and ARG have “done a lot of work already to address some of the issues”, Captain Beneby added: “Central to where we need to go was the decision to seek to amend, repeal and replace existing legislation. We are working aggressively to get that done. That’s the centrepiece of what we’re trying to do. All these legislative and regulatory issues flow down.

“Where we are right now is reviewing the existing legislation and regulations, and flowing from that we will be documenting instructions to inspectors, issuing advisory circulars to to general aviation. ICAO will look to see that we have good legislation and regulations, we have trained our personnel, and can show implementation not just in the first instance but ongoing.

“Our goal is to build on what we have now to ensure we have a system that’s sustainable. It’s a process we follow. ARG are actively working in situ and away. They are working to draft new and amended legislation that flows down to all the activities required for The Bahamas to demonstrate that we have an organised system that allows us to carry out our obligations; international obligations.”

Captain Beneby said the Civil Aviation Act will be the focus, and added: “We want to make it easier for the industry to come into compliance. That’s always a challenge. You can pass whatever legislation you want, but if it’s a burden on the industry they will not want to have it happen.

“These changes in regulations and legislation require us to interface with the industry so that we get some kind of buy-in. They need to feel it’s in their best interests as well. If they buy-in to what we’re trying to do it makes the whole job much easier.”

Captain Beneby said it was “extremely important” that The Bahamas improved its “safety oversight” standing not just for the domestic aviation industry but its international standing, as ICAO represents 192 nations.

“It says we are a body working to ensure the security and safety of aviation activity is at an acceptable level,” he explained. “States are required to ensure they have the infrastructure that complies with that objective.

“It’s very important. If a state does not meet the standard it can have an impact on the economy of a state that is dependent and reliant on air travel such as we are.”

Emphasising that ICAO safety oversight compliance is a state responsibility, Captain Beneby said the regulator has the full support of Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, to do what is necessary.

Agreeing that more progress should have been made before the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority was created, he told Tribune Business: “I would hasten to say we aren’t where we are today because we woke up this morning and said we would start to do this.

“The Bahamas signed the ICAO Convention in 1975. Then to now is 45 years. There’s a lot of work to be done still. We can wring our hands about what should have happened or go forward. We’ve chosen to go forward.

“I want The Bahamas to advance and retain its place as an organised state, which can ensure the safety and security of the travelling public. That’s my mission and what keeps me awake at night. How do we do it?”