JCAA deputy director says aviation industry continues to meet international standards

Deputy Director General of Regulatory Affairs at the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Rohan Campbell, says the organisation is on a constant thrust to ensure that the island's aviation industry continues to meet international standards.

He was addressing a JCAA Flight Safety Symposium, held at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James on Wednesday, December 5.

“Civil aviation regulations are updated from time to time, with Jamaica being a signatory to the Chicago Convention through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annexes. There are 19 annexes, and they have up 500 changes per year. In those 500 changes, some relate to legislation and regulatory changes, so we aim to continue meeting the international standards (of aviation),” Campbell said.

The ICAO Annexes outline the Standards and Recommend practices (SARPs) expected from State signatories to the ICAO Convention.

Meanwhile, Campbell underscored that the primary focus of the JCAA symposium was to give stakeholders at the Montego Bay-based airport an update regarding amendments to Annex 19, which outlines safety management regulations.

“Annex 19 seeks to get information from airlines throughout the world, for regulatory authorities like the JCAA that uses the data on a predictive basis, and try to interface with operators so we can prevent incidents from occurring based on the trend analysis,” Campbell outlined.

The ICAO states that amendments to Annex 19 do not become applicable until November 2019; however, safety management takes time to fully mature, thus it is important to begin implementation as soon as possible in support of the objectives found in the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP).

Campbell said that another reason the symposium was conceptualised was to bridge the knowledge gap, as “some of the stakeholders are operating from several different jurisdictions which have different standards. (Jamaican standards) may vary from that of the countries from whence they came. As such, they face challenges in interfacing with us (the JCAA), which may cause operational interruptions,” he said.

Campbell noted that the JCAA will stage its next symposium at the Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston, in the coming year. This is in addition to the organisation's quarterly outreach programmes.

The symposium brought together several JCAA executives and stakeholders to discuss aviation industry findings, the right to inspect an aircraft as well as regulatory amendments.