US airlines which carry US Department of Defense (DoD) personnel will be required to assess the safety of their foreign codeshare partners under an agreement between the DoD and the US Air Transport Association (ATA).
The memorandum of understanding commits the carriers to conduct within a year safety and operational reviews of their foreign partners, using a standard developed by the Pentagon and the airline industry. Under the plan, the US airline will evaluate a partner's accident/incident rate, financial condition, management, maintenance procedures and condition of aircraft and other equipment.
The pact, which makes follow-up audits mandatory every two years, was developed in conjunction with the US Department of Transportation (DoT) and US Federal Aviation Administration, which may extend the safety audit to all foreign airlines that codeshare with US air carriers.
The DoT, which is reviewing codeshare safety issues, is likely to make the initiative the basis for its own safety audit programme.
The DoD, which spends $1.2 billion a year on airline travel, has a legal obligation to audit the safety of US airlines used by US military personnel. It has lacked authority to inspect foreign airlines.
Source: Flight International
