Neelam Mathews
Nov 18, 2011
| The third India-US Aviation Summit, hosted by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) together with India’s civil aviation agencies, clearly indicated a warming of business relations and this was apparent in the camaraderie shared by senior U.S and Indian participants on the dias. Things have come a long way since the launch of the US-India Aviation Cooperation Program, a bilateral public-private partnership. I had in 2007 interviewed the then Administrator of FAA, Marion Blakey who indicated her confidence in the signing of the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA). There were many snide remarks. “India? You must be joking!,” said cynics. Now, despite our bureaucratic system, headed by some real able people like Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation, Nasim Zaidi, not only has BASA been signed, but today (Nov 18), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the completion of a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and India that will allow for the reciprocal certification of aviation products. The Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness (IPA) will enable a more efficient exchange of aviation products. In addition to discussions on the opportunities and resources available to address India’s growing aviation sector, USTDA, partnering with Metron Aviation, signed a grant with the Airports Authority of India to fund a technical assistance project supporting the implementation of an advanced air traffic flow management system and pilot. Open skies between the U.S and India in 2005 was followed by training of 32 DGCA officials to help them on certification procedures, standards, design, metallurgy, quality and documentation, ATFM and much more. In the pipeline are noise emissions, safety lanes for helicopters, Gagan certification and even perhaps a Next Gen ATM? India, USA sign Aviation Safety Agreement |
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