Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Air Jamaica has been commended by the Inter-national Air Transport Association's (IATA) international operational safety audit (IOSA) programme, for maintaining its safety record.

The audit, performed every two years, will replace the yearly audit performed by other firms.

Peter Cerda, director of safety operations and infrastructure for the Americas and Atlantic, presented Air Jamaica Chairman Shirley Williams with the certificate of registration during a ceremony held at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew.

Patrick Cousins, director of safety compliance and quality at the airline, said yesterday that since Air Jamaica's inaugural flight 39 years ago, it has maintained its priority focus on safety.

In addressing the audience, Cousins said the airline's operations have adopted a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to preventing potential disasters.

"We are using a proactive approach, by trying to identify risks and isolate them before they happen," he said.

After a rigorous assessment that took two years, the safety audit was completed in November of last year. As one of the 188 members of IOSA which have met the 942 safety standards, Cousins said: "This is a coveted award. IATA has become the yardstick whereby the airlines of the world are measured."

Financial benefit

Williams said the company would seek to benefit financially from the IOSA programme, saving the airline, as well as the aviation industry, millions of dollars through the elimination of yearly audits.

The IOSA programme was approved by the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Aviation Authority, which were consulted in the development. According to Cerda, since IOSA's inception five years ago, more than 470 airlines have been audited by the programme with 194 included in the registry.

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com