The International Air Transport Association's safety audit service received its first formal approval from an aviation authority when the US Federal Aviation Administration gave US carriers authorisation to use it as a means of auditing safety standards at codeshare partner airlines. Known as the IATA operational safety audit (IOSA), it can be carried out by organisations accredited by the association, and the FAA says an audit remains valid for two years.
IATA has struggled to get the FAA to validate the IOSA because of the US market for codeshare audits, an FAA requirement. United Airlines is among the organisations accredited to carry out IOSA audits. But the FAA adds: "Organisations not part of the IOSA accreditation programme will continue to be recognised by the FAA if they meet the agency's standards, are part of the US airlines' FAA-accepted codeshare programme, and are certificated by the US airline submitting the results [for FAA approval]."
IATA has been seeking wider validation, suggesting IOSA could be an accepted worldwide operational audit system that would obviate the need for multiple audits of any given airline by different agencies and organisations, but this goal has remained elusive.
Meanwhile, IATA has announced that it "is absorbing the programme's operating costs in 2004" - the $15,000 charge per audit the association takes for overseeing the system - following complaints, particularly from smaller airlines, that the IOSA was too expensive.
Source: Flight International
