An International Air Transport Association-led common worldwide airline safety audit programme has been given the green light to launch in July, potentially saving billions of dollars by eliminating duplication of audit efforts and costs.
The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is intended eventually to replace all regionally and nationally required quality control safety audits by meeting or exceeding the minimum standards required by the most demanding of them, saving costs by eliminating the need for individual agencies to carry out separate audits. They will not replace aviation authority oversight checks, but, increasingly, quality control audits are required of airlines either on a periodic basis or for reasons such as gaining permission to code-share with foreign carriers.
IATA members endorsed a resolution to launch the initiative in July at the association's annual general meeting in Washington DC last week. All airline members must register as IOSA operators no later than January 2006. IOSA audits will be performed by IATA teams and will harmonise existing airline audit standards into a common procedure. The system has been under development for two years and IATA estimates it could save the industry $3 billion. The programme has the backing of the US Federal Aviation Administration, the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the Flight Safety Foundation.
Lufthansa chief executive Jürgen Weber says: "The benefits of an international audit are clear - fewer audits, increased codesharing opportunities, quality oversight by IATA, and greater standardisation."
Source: Flight International
