Grupo TACA may be forced to move its operating certificate to Costa Rica in an attempt to protect its alliance with American Airlines, which is threatened by the US Federal Aviation Administration decision to downgrade El Salvador's safety rating to Category 2.
The FAA action could pose a serious threat to Grupo Taca, which has its headquarters in San Salvador and is overseen by the local regulatory authority. The Category 2 rating freezes the Central American carrier's services to the USA at the current level and could undermine its codesharing partnership with American.
One option under urgent consideration is to put Taca under the oversight authority of Costa Rica, where its 10% owner and partner LACSA is registered. "We have other operating possibilities and have prepared ourselves for different scenarios," says TACA commercial director Claudia Arenas.
Costa Rica is rated as Category 2, but is widely expected to be upgraded to Category 1 soon. TACA's other participating home nations Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are all classified as Category 2, leaving Panama as the only other country in the region with a Category 1 rating. Panama is no longer involved with TACA, however.
San Salvador is TACA's main base and under the country's open skies agreement with the USA, it serves nine US gateways including Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. TACA has applied for US anti-trust immunity for a full alliance with American and hopes to widen this to other oneworld partners.
The FAA's action is drawing criticism as it has not conducted a formal inspection visit since mid-1999. It is understood to have requested a new assessment earlier this year, but was told it would be "more appropriate" to come after an International Civil Aviation Organisation visit this month.
The US authority instead dropped its request and rerated El Salvador Category 2. The FAA declined to give a reason for its action other than that the country was deficient in one or more areas covering legal, technical, personnel, enforcement or proper documentation.
TACA also faces problems with start-up operation TACA Peru, which is seeking to fly from Lima to Miami. The FAA is expected to downgrade Peru back to Category 2 and has stalled on applications by Lan Peru and Aero Continente to launch services to the USA.
Source: Flight International
