Costa Rica has been upgraded to Category 1 by the US Federal Aviation Administration, opening the door for Grupo Taca to shift its regulatory domicile and perhaps circumventing El Salvador's recent downgrade for non-compliance.
Under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment programme, Costa Rica is only the second Central American nation, apart from Panama, to comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. El Salvador was relegated to Cat 2 in June.
The move effectively lifts the freeze on Taca's Costa Rica-based 10% owner and partner LACSA launching or expanding services to the USA. As a result, the airline wants responsibility for its regulatory oversight transferred from El Salvador to Costa Rica.
"This will give Taca the flexibility to do things as a LACSA vehicle that were lost as a result of El Salvador going into Category 2," says a source close to the airline. Although El Salvador can ask Costa Rica to take on some roles, legally it cannot fully surrender its oversight responsibilities.
Taca's plan hinges largely on the degree of oversight that can be transferred to Costa Rica and the country's ability to take on responsibility for overseeing TACA and the FAA's willingness to accept this as a solution, says the source.
The newly established Central American Safety Agency is also using the problem to cut its teeth on and is trying to get El Salvador's compliance reinstated.
Source: Flight International
