The list was first published in March 2006 and is administered by case handlers within the aviation safety unit of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG-MOVE).If an airline or an authority is blacklisted, these are the people that you need to speak with .This is important, as an open and constructive dialogue with the Commission seems to be one of the key factors in getting off the blacklist.

“Mauritania was on the list but it has now been removed because the authorities took proper action to address the issues,” explained the Commission official.”They were very proactive .They accepted they had a problem, engaged in a dialogue with us, addressed the specific issues and provided all the information we needed. We went out there and did a check .They had improved, so their work paid off and they came off the list.”

Case handlers are alerted when there is an accident or incident, if an issue from a safety assessment of foreign aircraft (SAFA) ramp inspection is escalated, or if an ICAO or FAA audit reveals serious shortcomings.

This rings an alarm bell and opens a dialogue but does not necessarily lead to ab an.”We are not trying to fill up the list: we are actually trying to empty it by addressing the underlying safety issues,” explained the official.”A ban is used only as a last resort, when nothing else is working and we have no other option. We don’t measure against European rules. We expect to see ICAO standards applied, as laid down by the Chicago Convention, and nothing more than that.”

Various organizations have criticized the Commission, saying that the safety list lacks transparency and that the criteria for being added to, and removed from, the list are unclear. However, the Commission official said the standards were laid down in the legislation.”ICAO looks primarily at whether there are processes in place to comply with its standards .What we do in addition is we look at whether it works. We take a very practical approach and get right down into the weeds of the oversight to be sure that the system delivers safety in a sustainable manner.”

The safety list is generally updated twice a year, around June and November; when the Commissions air safety committee meets to review any changes. This is when airlines and states have the opportunity to be removed from the list. To achieve this, an airline and its authority need to demonstrate that the safety issue has been recognized and resolved.”What we have found are that sometimes authorities go through a period of denial, where they think everything is perfectly fine, even though there is clear evidence that it is not. We have had several cases where a year was lost because of this,” said the official.

Once an issue has been identified, there will be an in-depth dialogue and the Commission will request further information.”We try to work with them and help where we can, but we can’t provide a huge amount of resources. However, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) can go out there and advice them of the steps they need to take.”

EASA coordinates SAFA checks and assists the Commission, but it is not responsible for the oversight of the safety list. This is the Commissions responsibility, although it often taps EASA for technical expertise when it visits airlines and states to check their safety systems.

This is often the next step, but setting up an onsite visit requires at least two months notice.

Once the inspection is complete, the airline and authority are invited to Brussels to present their case, firstly to the aviation safety unit and then to the operational and airworthiness experts on the European Commission’s air safety committee.

The pre-meeting with the aviation safety unit is effectively a dummy run, ahead of the main committee, although this may be bypassed if the ground has already been covered during the site visit. This is used to assess whether there are still any outstanding issues to be tackled and the case is not referred to the committee until the aviation safety unit is satisfied.

“We never have the air carrier here [presenting to the air safety committee] without the competent authority. The competent authority is responsible for issuing the air operators certificate (AOC) ,so it has a clear responsibility for the safety of the airline. We really must have competent authority on board. We are always looking for two green lights, one from the authority and one from the airline,” explained the official.

The length of the meeting varies from two to five hours, depending on the extent of the issues, the level of preparation and the openness of the discussion.”The biggest issue is death by PowerPoint. You are talking to experts, get straight to the issue,” advised the official.”The committee is interested in whether your recognize the safety issues that exist and what you are doing to address them.”

During the air safety committee hearings, experts from the European Union member states question the airline and its authority on the changes made. The committee sits for three days. The first day two days are filled with hearings and on the final half-day the committee comes up with a proposal about whether to remove the airline/ state from the list.

The Commission has faced criticism from associations such as IATA and AFRAA for its ‘name and shame’ strategy but the official defends this approach saying: “If you are not upfront, nobody will accept that you have an issue and there is no impetus for changes to be made.”

She also denied that there was any economic agenda behind the policy.”There concerns that the safety list is being used as an economic tool. That is certainly not true. If you look at the criteria in the legislation, there is no economic agenda at all. We are only interested in making a decision based on safety and on solving those problems.”

The purpose of the list is to protect travelers flying into and out of the European Union. The European Commission has no powers to ban airlines that operate outside its own borders, but the list does include airlines that fall short of its criteria, acting as advice for Europeans traveling overseas.

Airline associations have also questioned why European carriers are allowed to operate to states that are subject to a blanket ban due to poor oversight.”That is a very good question with a very straight -forward answer,” said the official.”European airlines that operate into those countries are well aware of the weaknesses of the state, so they mitigate against that risk. For example, if the weakness is poor air traffic control, they ensure that the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) is working and crews are specifically trained and briefed to talk directly with other aircraft.

Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Air News on Reasons Behind Airlines Being Black Listed by European Commission. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Air News on Reasons Behind Airlines Being Black Listed by European Commission. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

Author Bio: Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Air News on Reasons Behind Airlines Being Black Listed by European Commission. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

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