The International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA Program) is a program established by the U.S.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA) in 1992. The program is designed to evaluate the ability of a country's civil aviation authority or other regulatory body to adhere to international aviation safety standards and recommended practices for personnel licensing, aircraft operations and aircraft airworthiness. Regulatory authorities in any sovereign country are obliged under the

Chicago Convention The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trave ...

to exercise regulatory oversight over air carriers within the state. Such international standards and recommended practices are laid down by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

' technical agency for aviation, the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

(ICAO).

History of the IASA Program

In the aftermath of the January 25, 1990, crash of

Avianca flight 52 Avianca Flight 052 was a regularly scheduled flight from Bogotá, Colombia, to New York City, United States, via Medellín, Colombia, that crashed on January 25, 1990, at 21:34 ( UTC−05:00). The Boeing 707 flying this route ran out of f ...

on Long Island, New York, questions emerged about how the FAA conducted safety oversight of foreign air carriers flying into the United States. In response, the FAA established the IASA program in 1992.

IASA Category Ratings

Following an IASA audit, a country is assigned one of two ratings: *Category 1 (Meets ICAO standards): The FAA has assessed the country's civil aviation authority and determined that it licenses aviation personnel and oversees air carrier operations and airworthiness in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards; or *Category 2 (Does not meet ICAO standards): The FAA has assessed the country's civil aviation authority and determined that it does not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by ICAO. Carriers from Category 2 countries are allowed to continue operating to the United States as before the assessment, but are not allowed to expand their service to the US or

codeshare A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with US carriers. Additionally, such carriers may be subject to heightened ramp inspections.

Current ratings

References

External links

IASA Program
at the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

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